OFFICIALS are warning businesses and traders of a planned clampdown on illegal roadside signs.

The issue of signs being attached to legitimate council road signs was highlighted at a recent Durham County Council seminar.

Steve Keetley, the authority’s Head of Technical Services with Durham County Council, said: "Such signs can be free standing, tied to street lights, fixed to other signage and belong to any type of business from the small shop keeper to large housing development companies.

"This is an issue which is occurring nationally and across the whole of County Durham and needs to be tackled effectively to ensure the safety of our motorists and clarity of our existing signage."

The council believes that unofficial road signs can distract drivers, particularly at major junctions, and council officials are currently trying to tackle the problem on the county’s main roads, with plans to eventually look at all of Durham’s roads.

In the meantime, council officials are urging shop owners and businesses not to place such signs on the roadside and are asking businesses with existing signs to remove them as soon as possible.