Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976

2 Control of scaffolding on highways

(1) Subject to subsection (7) of this section no person shall, in connection with any building or demolition work or the alteration, repair, maintenance or cleaning of any building, erect or retain on or over a highway any scaffolding or other structure which obstructs the highway (hereafter in this section referred to as a " relevant structure ") unless he is authorised to do so by a licence in writing issued for the purposes of this section by the highway authority (hereafter in this section referred to as " a licence ") and complies with the terms of the licence ; and a licence may contain such terms as the authority issuing it thinks fit.

(2) If a person applies to a highway authority for a licence in respect of any relevant structure and furnishes the authority with such particulars in connection with the structure as the authority reasonably demands, it shall be the duty of the authority to issue a licence to him in respect of the structure unless the authority considers—

(a) that the structure would cause unreasonable obstruction of a highway ; or

(b) that a relevant structure erected otherwise than as proposed by the applicant would cause less obstruction of a highway than the structure proposed by him and could conveniently be used for the work in question.

(3) If on an application for a licence in connection with a highway the highway authority refuses to issue a licence or issues a licence containing terms to which the applicant objects, the applicant may appeal to a magistrates' court against the refusal or terms ; and on such an appeal the court may—

(a) in the case of an appeal against a refusal, direct the highway authority to issue a licence in pursuance of the application;

(b) in the case of an appeal against the terms of the licence, alter the terms.

(4) Sections 273 to 275, 277 and 278 of the [1959 c. 25.] Highways Act 1959 (which contain supplementary provisions connected with appeals) shall have effect as if references in those sections to that Act included references to this section.

(5) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, it shall be the duty of a person to whom a licence is issued by a highway authority in respect of a relevant structure—

(a) to ensure that the structure is adequately lit at all times between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise;

(b) to comply with any directions given to him in writing by the authority with respect to the erection and maintenance of traffic signs in connection with the structure; and

(c) to do such things in connection with the structure as any statutory undertakers reasonably request him to do for the purpose of protecting or giving access to any apparatus belonging to or used or maintained by the undertakers.

(6) A person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) of this section otherwise than by failing to comply with the terms of a licence or who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the terms of a licence or to perform a duty imposed on him by the preceding subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400.

(7) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section applies to a relevant structure erected before the coming into force of this section or erected or retained by the British Railways Board, the British Waterways Board or the London Transport Executive in the exercise of powers conferred on the body in question by any enactment; and nothing in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (5) of this section applies to a relevant structure if no part of it is less than eighteen inches in a horizontal direction from a carriage-way of the relevant highway and no part of it over a footway of the relevant highway is less than eight feet in a vertical direction above the footway.

In this subsection " carriage-way " and " footway " have the Same meanings as in the [1959 c. 25.] Highways Act 1959.

(8) No civil or criminal proceedings shall lie in respect of any obstruction of a highway which is caused by a relevant structure if the structure is on or over the highway in accordance with a licence and the person to whom the licence is issued performs the duties imposed on him in respect of the structure by subsection (5) of this section; and a highway authority by which a licence is issued shall not incur any liability by reason of the issue of the licence.

(9) Section 287 of the Highways Act 1959 (under which certain enactments relating to highways may be applied to Crown land) shall have effect as if the reference to that Act in subsection (2) included a reference to subsections (1) to (8) of this section.