A WOMAN has been hit with a bill for £1,700 after failing to remove illegal roadside advertising billboards.

Kathryn Miller, aged 48, failed to remove the two vehicle trailer adverts in a field at the side of the M61 despite repeated requests by Bolton Council.

Miller pleaded guilty at Bolton Magistrates Court where she was fined £350 for each offence and ordered her to pay the council £1,000 in costs.

The court heard the adverts could distract drivers travelling at high speeds, blighted the landscape and were illegal under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

It was also told that Bolton West MP Ruth Kelly's Department for Communities and Local Government had written to councils encouraging them to prosecute for illegal advert displays.

Bolton Council solicitor, Nicola Raby, said the council had been successful in removing more than a dozen illegal trailer adverts which began to appear on land near the motorway in June 2004.

But the two on Miller's land remained. The council's planning enforcement officer Philip Marfleet struggled to locate Miller but unsuccessfully attempted to get the trailers removed by liasing with her parents and partner Brian Howard.

In February 2006, Mr Howard told The Bolton News he intended to fight the council over the matter.

Mr Marfleet sent two further letters to Miller, to which she again failed to respond. The first invited her to attend interview under caution, while the second asked a series of questions under written caution.

Mr Howard then telephoned questioning the validity of the letter and stating a solicitor from the National Farmers Union would be in contact.

No such contact was made so the council launched its prosecution, with Miller first appearing in court on October 31 When Mr Marfleet checked the site the day before the court hearing this week, the two trailers remained on the land, although only one contained an advertisement.

After the case Mr Howard said that his partner accepted the ruling. "Everything will now be removed," he said.

"We did initially fight this following advice from the NFU which has since changed that advice. So it would now be foolish for us not to comply."