Council wins injunction against minicab firm over ads on cigarette bins

Westminster City Council has secured an injunction against Addison Lee ordering the minicab firm to remove unlawful advertising on more than 3,000 cigarette bins in the local authority’s area.

The injunction against Addison Lee and one of the companies in its group, Adbins Limited, is the latest stage in a long-running dispute dating back to the middle of 2008.

Westminster argued that there had been a breach of s. 244 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Town and Country Planning Control (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007.

The council said the erection of cigarette bins with a company logo constituted advertisements which required express advertisement consent as provided for in the 1990 Act and the 2007 Regulations, and the defendant companies had not expressly sought or been granted consent.

Westminster said that, after first becoming aware of the practice, it had sought on numerous occasions to secure compliance with the legislation. However, the cigarette bins were not removed.

At a hearing on 3 March 2011 Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruled that the advertisements constituted a criminal offence and the defendants were convicted of all charges brought against them.

Addison Lee subsequently launched a challenge by way of case stated against the district judge’s ruling. This was dismissed on 12 January 2012 by the Divisional Court.

But the defendant companies have yet to confirm that they would cease the display of the advertisements. Display of each advertisement is a continuing criminal offence.

A spokeswoman for Addison Lee said: "Since 2007 Addison Lee has provided around 16,000 cigarette bins at zero cost to thousands of London businesses. Westminster Council has now obtained an injunction which means cigarette butts will be scattered across Westminster's pavements."

Saira Kabir Sheikh of Francis Taylor Building acted for the local authority in the injunction proceedings.

In April, a High Court judge granted Transport for London an injunction against Addison Lee preventing the minicab company from instructing or encouraging its drivers to drive in bus lanes. 

The company’s chairman, John Griffin, had previously written to its drivers suggesting they should use bus lanes. He argued that the current legislation was anticompetitive and discriminated against minicab drivers.