A CRACKDOWN to remove ‘dangerous’ roadside clutter from the A590 into Barrow has been praised by council bosses.

Jason Hipkiss, planning manager at Barrow Borough Council, said a joint operation had cleared a rash of unauthorised adverts.

The promotions, which proliferated on Park Road and were designed to catch the eye of passing drivers, had grown in recent years.

It had led to large billboard trailers being parked up on verges and council land without the required planning permission.

Council bosses stepped in after concerns from councillors about collisions or motorists being distracted or their vehicles being hit by blow away signs.

Mr Hipkiss gave an update on the council’s enforcement action in 2019 to the planning committee at a meeting in Barrow Town Hall.

Various agencies are responsible for highways ‘infrastructure’ including Barrow Borough Council, the county council and Highways England.

He said: “A high profile piece of work we have done this year which people may have noticed as they drive in along the A590 is partnership we have had with Cumbria County Council.

“We have managed to get rid of all of the unauthorised trailer adverts which have been lying about on the grass verges in various positions. We consider them to be dangerous because they can be a distraction to drivers and they just look awful, particularly the state of some of them where grass has grown around the wheels.”

Mr Hipkiss said Highways England’s responsibility for the A590 started at the Park Road roundabout at the bottom of Dalton bypass.

The agency had also been encouraged to take action on the stretchesit was responsible for, he said.

Cllr Bill McEwan, a member of the planning panel, said the proliferation of A-boards on the way into town had become a highways issue.

“I am the chairman of the highways sub-group and this is something we have talked about before in the past,” said Cllr McEwan, the Labour member for Ormsgill. “Gordon Robson, the council’s planning enforcement officer, came along and has really got his teeth stuck into this. It’s been good partnership work and they have done a great job,” he said.

The meeting was told that the Barrow Borough Council boundary on the A590 began at Pennington Lane, Lindal.

Earlier this year, councillors branded parts of the A590 ‘a mess’ which created a ‘poor initial image’ for visitors and called on planners to take action.