TRADERS in Minehead could face a renewed crackdown to clear the town's pavements of illegal advertising boards.

Town councillors, who are responsible for ensuring the controversial 'A' boards do not obstruct the streets, heard this week that complaints had been received, in particular about the size and location of a number of signs on the seafront.

At a full council meeting on Wednesday, members agreed to write to Minehead Chamber of Trade, reiterating the policy on 'A' boards and also voted to contact Somerset County Council to review the agreement under which the responsibility for dealing with the issue was devolved to the town council.

Councillors were told that under a deal struck in 1993, the town council received £2,000 a year to carry out a number of county council functions, which in addition to the 'A'board issue included sign cleaning and reporting of damage, hanging branches and hedges on the footway and highway and footpath repairs reporting.

But over the past 16 years, the amount of money paid for carrying out the duties has not risen.

Cllr Jenny Lennon-Wood suggested the town council should withdraw from the agreement - which it appeared may not even formally exist any more - because it required "a great deal of work".

She said enforcing the pavement advertising signs policy would put the authority in direct conflict with local traders and she questioned whether it had adequate staff resources to carry out the duty.

Under the law, the council can seize any illegal signs if traders ignore written notices to remove them but this has yet to happen in Minehead.

In 1995 the council agreed that only one pavement board per premise would be allowed and that they must stand flat against premises to a maximum width of one metre and a height of 1.2-metres.

In 2003 the then Mayor Cllr Stan Taylor sparked a furore with a determined campaign to crack down on the proliferation of signs.

He made a personal visit to businesses but was accused by traders of being high-handed.

Cllr Taylor survived a subsequent vote of no confidence after apologising for any offence he may have caused.

But this week he said action now needed to be taken.

He said at one time during his term of office as mayor, he had written to all traders by registered letter to ensure they were aware of the legislation.

"They are not allowed, by law, to obstruct the highway," he said.

"People take advantage because we don't enforce this. It is not fair on the public - I would certainly kick one into the road if it was obstructing me."

Cllr Doug Ross said he was against scrapping the agreement with the county council because he believed that on the whole it was better that issues that affected local people and businesses were handled at a local level.

Councillors agreed to ask for a review of the level of remuneration received for the devolved functions and for help and support in enforcing the removal of illegal pavement signs.