Geestar Production Limited: Prolific fly-posters lose ‘The Game’ and face £16,000 penalty

An events promotion firm from Eccles has been ordered to pay more than £16,000 for repeatedly fly-posting to publicise gigs at Manchester’s O2/Ritz venue.

Geestar Production Limited were fined £15,000 - £1,000 each for 15 separate offences – and ordered to pay £1,270 in legal costs, plus a victim surcharge of £100, at Manchester Magistrates Court on 3 August 2016.

The prosecution was brought by Manchester City Council, after Geestar ignored warnings to remove a series of illegally posted banners, spotted by an officer from the council’s Environmental Crimes team.

Geestar were told to remove a banner advertising an upcoming show by rapper The Game, found posted on Alan Turing Way in January 2016.

The company was told that they faced a fixed penalty notice of £80 for this offence. However, they failed to comply with the request to remove the banner - and after an investigation, a series of other banners linked to Geestar were subsequently found, attached to railings covering main roads throughout Manchester.

A representative of the company was formally interviewed by the council in February – but further fly-posters for Geestar concerts, starring American artists Redman & Method Man and Shalamar, appeared around the city in April.

Geestar failed to attend a hearing at Manchester Magistrates Court on 3 August 2016 and the company was found guilty of 15 separate counts of fly-posting in its absence.

Executive Member for Neighbourhoods, Councillor Nigel Murphy, said: “The company responsible for this wave of fly-posting were given every opportunity to desist and, had they complied with the law earlier, they would not have faced this heavy financial penalty.

“Fly-posting blights neighbourhoods and if left unchecked, can cause serious hazards for road users. We will always take prompt enforcement action when these offences are detected and encourage residents to let us know about any problems in their area, so that our Environmental Crimes team can investigate.”

To report a fly-posting offence in your neighbourhood, go towww.manchester.gov.uk/flyposting.