FOR proprietor Thomas Jones who has been coming to Bromsgrove with his touring fair every spring for over 50 years, much of the fun has gone out of his latest visit thanks, he says, to red tape.

This year Mr Jones put out 40 posters advertising his fair on Bromsgrove's Recreation ground at strategic points on approaches to Bromsgrove. He ensures they are all removed when the fair moves on.

But last week he said, no sooner had he put the last one out, than the district council began to remove them - claiming it amounted to fly posting.

"To add insult to injury" an angry Mr Jones told the Advertiser/Messenger: "The official I spoke to at the Council House told me I couldn't have them back as they were going to be destroyed.

Each poster is mounted on plywood, the whole costing about £4.50. Mr Jones said none were permanently fixed to buildings or other structures.

"They even removed those on the edge of the Recreation Ground facing the car park," he said sadly.

He added that if the council had told him about the ban he could have saved the authority money by removing them himself.

Mr Jones, who is 57, said no mention of a change of council policy was a made when his wife Sue made the booking in the winter.

"It also failed to tell us our rent had gone up by a third to £2,350 for our two week stay," he added.

But Graham Rocke, the council's community safety manager, was unrepentant. He said the council is not against fairs and is not vindictive towards Mr Jones.

But the posters were, he said, a "classic case" of flyposting which is against the law and if flouted could lead to offenders ultimately being given an Anti-Social Behaviour Order.

He said Mr Jones has been told of the position which the council is treating as a "one off."

He added: "Bromsgrove is no stricter than elsewhere. Some councils go straight to prosecution."