Czech road management fighting never ending battle with illegal billboards

The Czech Road and Motorway Directorate is fighting a never ending battle with illegal billboards on motorways and first-class roads, the ctk news agency reported, citing statistics from the Ministry of Transport. In the autumn of 2017, when a ban on billboards in the close vicinity of main roads took effect, road workers counted approximately 3,000 illegal billboards, and according to the ministry's spokesman most of the original ones were dismantled. However new ones appear in their place as fast as they are taken down. At the moment, according to the Regional Directorate of Transport, there are approximately 3,700 illegal billboards of all shapes and sizes along the roads under its management, although 717 were dismantled last year alone.  Billboards were banned in the close vicinity of main roads for safety reasons. People who put them up illegally have to dismantle them at their own cost and pay a fine.