ACTION is under way to stamp out the blight of random advertising hoardings in the town, according to the council.

Unsightly billboards and logo-covered vehicles can be seen on public roads and grassland throughout the town.

The council has said it is taking the issue seriously, but warned that cutting the number of highway adverts will take time.

In just one hour, the Adver found no fewer than eight trailers, cars and vans carrying advertising for various local businesses. Many of the vehicles looked to have been abandoned.

The main hotspots appeared to be Drake’s Way, Mead Way in Sparcells, and Great Western Way by Even Swindon.

One resident of Drake’s Way, who asked not to be named, described the three parked near her home as an eyesore. She said: “It’s annoying. They are not nice to look at and we have to live here.

“The ones on this road have been here for a couple of weeks and no-one comes to move them – they just park up and leave them there.

“It encourages people to park there and try and sell their cars as well. We get a lot of that here.

“The council could do something, like put double yellow lines down. That would soon stop them.”

Kevin Burchall, a spokesman for the council, said: “We do take illegal advertising seriously as it can become a real blight on the town.

“We are currently in the process of taking action against a number of firms who are using the public highway to promote themselves, but it can be time-consuming as we have to follow a clear legal process.”

Among the signs spotted was a yellow trailer hoarding by the roadside on Great Western Way, advertising AutoAsylum, a tinted-window specialist in nearby Barnfield Road. Asked if it was within the law to leave the sign there, the firm’s Glen Jeffreys said: “I don’t know the technicalities. A lot more people are doing it around Swindon. It’s just a sign of the times – people trying to survive.”

He told the Adver that the trailer had been there for about seven years, and was taken away every night. He said that it was much easier on the eye than “nasty, rotten old vans” which can be seen left at roadsides with adverts painted on them.

Mr Jeffreys claimed that no-one had ever raised problems with his hoarding before, and he issued this stark warning: “At the end of the day, if they start removing these, they’ll create unemployment.”

Other trailers spotted by the roadside included adverts for companies as diverse as alarm firm AFM Security Systems Ltd and hotel chain De Vere, along with a number of advert-bearing vehicles.