Local residents are celebrating after illegally erected billboards were removed from the waterworks development in Hornsey following months of pressure from local residents and Liberal Democrat Councillors and activists.

The billboards were erected without Council consent nine months ago by an advertising company associated with Thames Water. Since then the Council has received complaints on a regular basis. Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson, Cllr Bob Hare and local activist David Burridge have worked hard to ensure that the Council has kept the pressure on the company to remove the billboards.

The Council finally served notice on Thames Water last month telling them to remove the billboards by this week (10th March) or have them removed by the Council at a considerable cost to the company. This week the eyesores were being removed by the advertising company and residents were celebrating.

Cllr. Bob Hare (Lib Dem) was delighted to see the billboards go. He commented:

“It is a great success to see these ugly billboards being removed. The Council officers have done a good job in applying pressure in a difficult situation, where none of the companies involved seemed willing to take responsibility for them.

“We have shown as residents of this community that we will not tolerate individuals or businesses who have such a disregard for planning regulations, the environment and the people of this borough.”