19. — F2[(1) Where any structure or other land, door, gate, window, tree, pole or post is in or is visible from a public place, a person who is not the owner, occupier or person in charge thereof shall not—

(a) exhibit or cause to be exhibited thereon any article or advertisement, or

(b) carry out or cause to be carried out any defacement thereof by writing or other marks,

unless, in either case, the person is authorised in advance to do so in writing by such owner, occupier or person in charge or by or under any enactment, and, in addition, in the case of paragraph (a), the article or advertisement—

(i) if it relates to a meeting or an event, carries the name and address of the person who is promoting or arranging the meeting or event, and

(ii) in any other case, carries the name and address of the person on whose behalf it is exhibited.]

F2[(2) A person shall not place advertising material on a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place otherwise than by securing the material by some mechanical means to the body of the vehicle.]

F3[(2A) For the purposes of subsection (2)—

" body ", in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle, does not include—

(a) any windscreen wiper, wiperblade, mirror or aerial, or

(b) any other part of the vehicle concerned that is not specifically designed or adapted for the purpose of securing to it the material concerned;

" mechanical means " does not include any means relying on or involving any pressure (of whatever amount or in whatever direction) exerted by—

(a) any windscreen wiper or wiperblade, or

(b) any other part of the vehicle that is not specifically designed or adapted for the purpose of employing pressure in order to secure the material concerned to the body of the vehicle;

" place advertising material on a mechanically propelled vehicle " does not include paint, emboss, inscribe or apply by any method of transfer letters, figures or images on or to the body of the vehicle or place in the interior of the vehicle any such material.]

(3) Without limiting the liability of any other person under subsection (1) or (2), where there is a contravention of that subsection in relation to—

(a) an advertisement that pertains to a meeting or other event, the person who is promoting or arranging the meeting or event, or

(b) any other advertisement, the person on whose behalf the advertisement is exhibited,

shall be deemed also to have contravened that subsection.

(4) A local authority may, on such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by it and the occupier concerned, in the case of an article, advertisement or defacement in its functional area in relation to which there is a contravention of subsection (1) —

(a) by its employees or agents, remove or obliterate all or a part of the article or advertisement or, as the case may be, remove or otherwise remedy the defacement, and

(b) for those purposes, by its employees or agents, enter on the structure or other land concerned or the structure or other land on which is situated the door, gate, window, tree, pole or post concerned.

(5) In a prosecution of a person in relation to a contravention of subsection (1) it shall not be necessary for the prosecution to show and it shall be assumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the person was not the owner, occupier or person in charge of the structure or other land, door, gate, window, tree, pole or post to which the contravention relates and was not authorised as referred to in subsection (1).

(6) A person who contravenes or is deemed to have contravened subsection (1) or (2) or who obstructs or impedes a local authority or its employees or agents acting in the exercise of the functions conferred on a local authority by subsection (4) shall be guilty of an offence.

(7) F4[Notwithstanding subsection (6), it shall not be an offence for a person to exhibit an advertisement if the advertisement—

(a) is exempted development within the meaning of the Planning and Development Act 2000, or is a notice displayed or erected in pursuance of a requirement by or under any enactment,

(b) advertises a public meeting, other than an auction, unless the advertisement has been in place for 30 days or more prior to, or for 7 days or more after, the date specified in the advertisement for the meeting,

(c) relates to—

(i) a presidential election within the meaning of the Presidential Elections Act 1993,

(ii) a general election or a bye-election, within the meaning, in each case, of the Electoral Act 1992,

(iii) a local election within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001, or

(iv) an election of members of the European Parliament under the European Parliament Elections Act 1997,

unless the advertisement has been in place prior to the making of an order by the Minister appointing the day upon which the relevant poll shall be taken or for 30 days prior to the date of the poll, whichever is the shorter period, or for 7 days or more after the latest day upon which the poll was taken for the election or bye-election concerned,

(d) F5[…]

(e) relates to a referendum, within the meaning of the Referendum Act 1994, unless the advertisement has been in place prior to the making of an order by the Minister appointing the day upon which the poll shall be taken, or for 7 days or more after the latest day upon which the poll was taken.]

(8) In this section and in section 20 —

“ occupier ” in relation to a door, gate, window or tree, means the occupier of the structure or other land on which the door, gate, window or tree, as the case may be, is situated and, in relation to a pole or post, means the owner of the pole or post;

“ structure ” has the meaning assigned by the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963.