HL Deb 15 January 2001 vol 620 cc114-5WA
Lord Marlesford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they are taking to discover who was responsible for the criminal damage caused to property of the Highways Agency by the recent cutting down of plantings on government land along the A12 trunk road embankment, adjacent to the advertisement hoardings on land owned by the Braintree District Council, at Witham; and whether they will ask the police to investigate this incident. [HL281]

Lord Whitty:

The Highways Agency has undertaken its own investigation into the cutting back of planting on the embankment, both with Braintree District Council, which owns the advertisement hoardings and with the Allam Group, the company which controls most of the advertisements on display. Inquiries made with both bodies have not yielded any information about who was responsible for the cutting back.

The Highways Agency has passed to the police information relating to the incident.