大象传媒

Bad adverts

Guerilla advertising in action on a countryside site

Inside Out investigates the advertisement hoardings that some say are blighting our countryside.

If you drive on any major road, you聮ll have seen the new breed of advert - at 20 feet high and weighing in at two tons, they聮re hard to miss.

They can appear overnight, they don聮t have planning permission, and they distract drivers when they are driving.

Inside Out delves into the murky world of guerilla advertising that some say is turning our beautiful countryside into one big advertising hoarding.

Trailer trash?

Inside Out picked up on the trailer trash story after seeing lorry unit after lorry unit popping up by the side of the M25.

Further investigation revealed a tale of flouted planning laws and angry residents began to emerge.

Countryside concern - Richard Bass fears a hoarding epidemic

For the last three years Richard Bass from the Council to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has been charting the epidemic in the north of England.

At one bridge over the M6 at the Sandbach services in Cheshire, there are five trailer adverts within 500 metres of each other.

Richard Bass worries that the proliferation of roadside adverts could now be heading south:

"If you don聮t want this happening in the South East, then you are going to have to wake up."

Business case

Vance Miller is the man responsible for a large number of roadside adverts.

He聮s a colourful character who doesn聮t take kindly to being told what he can or can't do.

He also pays good money to local farmers for his adverts, around 拢1,000 a year.

Vance Miller is no stranger when it comes to controversial business tactics.

A self made millionaire, he started off in Oldham selling damaged kitchen units out the back of a van.

Now Vance owns a vast former mill, employs hundreds and sells more kitchens than MFI.

But when it comes to dealing with the law, in the past he聮s had quite a few run ins.

But Vince is fiercely defensive of his new advertising tactics.

"There's more people down south and more money so hence we need more trailers," he believes.

Mobile advertising

Another businessman involved in trailer advertising is Chris Roffey - he places his adverts in fields, but now thinks he聮s found a way of running circles around the law.

The secret of his success - Chris tows his adverts wherever he goes:

Moving adverts - Chris Roffey

"The police will take a view that it's OK for a couple of days where it is or they'll move me on after a couple of hours.

"Between us and the police it is a bit of a cat and mouse situation."

But it seems that the police are now becoming far less patient.

Lynn Castle from Kent Traffic Police thinks stronger action is needed:

"They should be jumped upon and got rid of. They're also an eyesore and dangerous, I think."

Diversification

Some farmers are keen on this new form of advertising because it provides them with another way of generating income.

We asked one farmer, John Berryman, why he decided to put adverts on his land:

"It was my form of diversification - a little income to help out on the farm really."

John started off advertising a local theme park, then came a media company.

For the council the last straw was when he advertised off road motorbikes:

"The magistrate was very lenient really. Only fined me 拢150 and costs - so it's not a great issue in her eyes," he says.

John Berryman's anti-Blair slogan

He聮s learnt his lesson now. There are no adverts on John聮s farm, just his anti-Blair slogan which isn聮t illegal.

But this hasn聮t stopped the ad men from ringing him with new proposals, some quite whacky.

During the course of our research we discovered that some farmers with land around the M25 have been approached and asked if they would colour dye the sides of their sheep and cattle in exchange for cash.

Another imaginative example was a deodorant company who painted a large advert on a green field under the Gatwick flight path so it could be seen from the air.

This unusual advert for men聮s deodorant got the council into a right sweat. They made sure it was erased within days.

The advertisers, of course, are always sniffing out new ways to get their messages across.

Controlling the adverts

The advertising men聮s arch enemy is the council enforcement officer who is dedicated to hunting down and prosecuting the people who put bad ads in fields.

Some planners are concerned about what they see as blatant disrespect for the planning laws.

John Lawrence, Head of Planning Enforcement at Tandbridge Council, oversees the work of his team of enforcement officers.

He's acutely aware of the need to prevent the adverts getting out of hand and is concerned about their impact on the countryside:

"We don't like to see people getting away with it or sticking two fingers up at authority.

"We have a policy now that we issue a warning. And if the sign isn't removed, we will prosecute.

"If the same person does it a second time, then we will prosecute without further notice."

Whatever the police and planning authorities do to stop bad adverts, it appears that the ad men are often one step ahead of the game in coming up with clever solutions to circumvent the law.

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Lorry pollution

Lorry central - Dover is the lorry drivers' gateway to Europe

Dover is the gateway to Europe, and thousands of lorries pass through the town every day.

Love them or hate them, they're filling the shops with the goods we want to buy.

But their numbers are increasing and that's breeding a health hazard and a crime wave.

Health and safety dangers

Thundering through the South East, lorries are the lifeblood of British business.

In 2005 two million lorries passed through Dover Harbour, an increase of three per cent on the year before.

That's good financial news for the ferry operators and hauliers, but there's a flip side too - pollution and safety hazards.

The number of lorries coming through Kent is becoming a problem.

When the lorries from the continent arrive in Dover, many drivers try to find a place to stop and rest.

They're only allowed to drive for so many hours.

The problem is that there aren't many designated places where they can stop.

That means they park in the nearest lay-by, often blocking it completely or, even worse, sticking out into the road causing an obstruction.

It isn't just a minor problem, two people died last year in two separate crashes with lorries.

Police Constable Nathan Scamp says it was the worst crash he'd ever seen.

Health hazards

And it's not just a road safety issue.

When the lorries finally stop, they've often been on the road for days.

Rather than stop and go to a toilet, the drivers often urinate into a bottle, and then throw them in the verge.

Rubbish generated by lorry drivers' stop overs

They also leave other rubbish causing a health hazard.

Resident Simon Griffin has to live with the problem on his doorstep, and he thinks it's affecting his health.

He can't sleep because of the noise, and the rubbish problem is potential health hazard.

The Police are now patrolling the lorries parked in Ashford.

And there's another problem. Parked up lorries are being targeted by organised criminals, who steal their valuable loads.

In the last year there's been a five fold increase in the number of thefts.

On average six lorry loads a month are stolen in South East Kent alone.

Lorry thefts

The increase in thefts is causing great concern to Peter Monkhouse, a transport manager at a Dover haulage firm.

His lorries are frequently targeted:

"They just use a knife, slice through the side of the lorry, and they're in. We've now invested in these reinforced anti-slash curtains."

But reinforced curtains don't stop the determined criminals.

The criminals are now turning to more sinister and dangerous tactics.

Chilling experience - lorry driver Neville Brinkhurst

Lorry driver Neville Brinkhurst from Tenterden was the unfortunate victim of a chilling ploy.

He parked up, drew the curtains, locked the doors and went to bed.

While Neville was sleeping, gas was fed into his cab, forcing him into an unwakable sleep.

The thief then broke in and stole his money, credit cards and mobile phone.

Neville was shaken but unharmed. But only weeks later he was gassed again.

Neville was gassed while in France and Spain but drivers say the ploy is now being used in Kent.

The Freight Transport Association say they've heard of about 10 cases in Britain in the last year.

Solutions?

Crime is increasing, pollution has been getting worse, and the illegally parked lorries are a risk to road safety.

So what's being done about it?

The Dover Harbour Board is unashamed by the success of its business, and Chief Executive Bob Goldfield predicts yet more growth in freight traffic.

But don't they want to take responsibility for the problem?

"Yes, we do, that's why we want to spend 20 million pounds on a solution." Bob Goldfield.

Action is needed says Councillor Keith Ferrin

There used to be a free lorry park at the harbour, but it was closed four years ago to make way for two new ferry berths.

Now there are plans to build a new lorry park on the cliff top above Dover, but there's one problem - it's an area of outstanding natural beauty.

There's inevitable opposition, and the County Council and County Councillor Keith Ferrin are meeting the government because they have a possible solution.

They propose a congestion charge or ticket levy on vehicles passing through Dover to help fund a County Council run lorry park.

The Department for Transport says it will examine the proposal for a ticket levy.

The talking goes on, and there seems to be no immediate solution in sight, so the crime, road safety and pollution problems will continue.

And that means the police will carry on with their lorry patrols.

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Crime writer

Paperback writer - Peter James hopes to create the next Morse

He's been called Britain's answer to Stephen King and Michael Crichton.

Peter James is an established crime writer but he's launching a new series of novels.

They are all set in Brighton and Peter hopes that his central character will give Inspector Morse a run for his money.

Roy Grace is the book's main character, inspired by real life policeman Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Gaylor.

Inside Out follows Peter on a promotional tour with some German book critics, a country that reads more crime novels than anyone else.

Selling crime

One of Peter's biggest tasks is to sell the book's hero as well as the South of England locations.

The Germans have a great nose for a good plot line, and if Peter gets good reviews, it will help him to rival Inspector Morse.

He takes the critics on a tour of locations featured in the book, but the highlight of Peter's sales pitch isn't for the squeamish.

Dead simple - a trip to the mortuary

To get those rave reviews the author uses some shock tactics, taking the entourage to a police station and a mortuary.

But some members of the party are finding it quite chilling. Reading about death is one thing seeing it is another.

As the sunsets over Brighton's South Downs the real schmoozing kicks in as the publishers push the boat out with a four course meal for the German critics.

Perhaps after all the best way to a German book critic's heart is through his or her stomach?

Months later, the strategy has worked and Peter's book is a best seller in Germany.

His next big challenge is to break the new book in the international market and even get interest in a TV or film adaptation of his latest work.

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