Organisers of a village fun day in East Yorkshire were surprised when their posters were ripped down by council workers.

Ian Boyall co-ordinates the Barmby Feast of Fun Festival in Barmby-on-the-Marsh, which took place on Saturday.

As in previous years, he contacted East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s highways department to ask permission to put up four posters, which it had always allowed him to do before.

“I left my contact details and they said although it was illegal to put them on highways, because it was a charity event, as long as it wasn’t obscuring anything it could be overlooked.

But after a week he found that most of the posters had been taken down, and when he rang the council he was told they were illegal and had been destroyed and disposed of.

A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: “After initially contacting the council for permission the event organisers were advised not to put the posters up within the highway as this can cause distraction to drivers and is illegal under the Highways Act 1980.

“The council removes illegal signs and advertising from the public highway.”