Highways Act 1980
What this means for your business
- Enforced by
- Mining Remediation Authority, National Highways, Natural England
- Applies to
- United Kingdom
- On this page
- 64 compliance obligations, 5 practical guides across 2 topics
What you must do
64 compliance obligations under this legislation — 2 can result in imprisonment.
Management duties 3
Assess and conclude on environmental impact before proceeding with a highway project
If your business is the authority responsible for a highway construction or improvement project that triggers an environmental statement, you must review the statement, any relevant opinions (including from the EEA), and proposed mitigation measures, obtain any expert advice you need, and then write a reasoned conclusion on the project's significant environmental effects before you decide to go ahead.
Remove snow, soil and other obstructions from highways you maintain
If you own or are responsible for maintaining a highway (including private roads), you must clear any blockage caused by snow, fallen earth or anything else that makes the road unsafe. You also need to warn road users and can sell or recover costs for removed material, provided the owner is given a chance to claim it.
Serve required notices and meet timing when applying for a highway obstruction order
If you want to apply to a highway authority for an order to remove an obstruction on a public path, you must first give the authority a prescribed notice. That notice can only be sent after two months from the original request notice and must be served at least five days before you lodge your application, which must be made within six months of the request notice.
Notifications 1
Notify authority and object to final street‑works cost apportionment
When street‑works on a private road are completed, the council will send you a notice showing how much of the cost you must pay. You have one month to object in writing if you think the work or the cost is unreasonable.
Other requirements 1
Provide all required highway‑authority documents in writing
Whenever the Highways Act 1980 requires you to give a notice, consent, licence, certificate or any other document to a highway authority or council – or to receive one from them – you must do so on paper (or in another written form). This means you cannot rely on oral agreements or informal messages for those matters.
Payments and fees 4
Do not transfer land to evade street works costs
If you sell or otherwise transfer land to avoid paying for private street works, a court can order you to pay the costs. Make sure any transfer isn’t done for that purpose and be prepared to settle any street‑works bills.
Pay charge for a builder’s skip occupying a highway
If you place a builder’s skip on a public highway, you must pay a charge when the skip stays longer than the period set by regulations and is not removed within a reasonable time. The amount you pay will depend on how long and how much of the highway the skip occupies. Failing to pay can lead to enforcement action by the highway authority.
Pay highway occupation charge for prolonged works
If your business carries out work on a publicly‑maintained road – such as erecting a scaffold, depositing building materials, rubbish or making a temporary excavation – you must pay a charge if the work lasts longer than the period set by the highway authority and isn’t finished within a reasonable time. The charge is calculated based on how long the highway is occupied and how much of the road surface is affected.
Pay your share of bridge costs when a highway authority replaces a level crossing
If a highway authority orders the compulsory acquisition of your railway right to replace a level crossing with a bridge, you may be required to contribute to the cost of building and maintaining that bridge and its approaches. The amount you pay is based on the savings to the railway and can be a lump‑sum or annual instalments, as agreed or set by arbitration.
Offences and prohibitions 54
Allow livestock to stray onto a highway
Fine up to £1,000If any of your horses, cattle, sheep, goats or pigs are found lying on or beside a public road, you as the keeper are committing an offence. You can be fined up to £1,000 and must also pay the reasonable cost of removing the animal. If you later release an animal that has been taken to a pound without lawful authority, you face another fine of up to £500.
Carry out building work that creates a risk of serious injury
Unlimited fineIf you carry out construction, demolition, repair or any other building operation on or near a public street and an accident occurs that creates, or could have created, a risk of serious injury to people in the street, you can be prosecuted. The owner of the land or building on which the work is being done is liable, and anyone whose actions caused the offence can also be charged. A conviction results in an unlimited fine (level 5) and the case is dealt with in the magistrates' court.
Company and officers liable for highway offences committed with their consent or neglect
If your company commits an offence under sections 137, 137ZA, 139, 140, 167, 168 or 177 of the Highways Act and a director, manager, secretary or similar officer consented, connived or was negligent, both the company and that officer are guilty. The corporation and the responsible officer can be prosecuted and punished in the same way as anyone who commits the underlying offence.
Construct or excavate within improvement line without consent
Fine up to £200If a highway authority has set an improvement line for widening a street, you must not erect a new building or carry out permanent excavation closer to the centre of the road than that line unless you have the authority’s consent. Doing so (or ignoring any condition attached to a consent) is a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £200, and a daily fine of £2 for each day the breach continues.
Construct or use a bridge without a licence or breach licence terms
Fine up to £500If you build a bridge over a public highway without first obtaining a licence, or you use or alter a bridge in a way that breaches the conditions of an existing licence, you commit an offence. The same applies if you fail to remove or modify the bridge when the highway authority tells you to, or if you do not do so within one month after a licence expires. On conviction you face a fine of up to £500, plus a daily fine of up to £5 for any continued breach.
Continue a highway offence after conviction
Unlimited fineIf your business has been convicted of an offence under the Highways Act (for example, unauthorised works on a public highway) and you keep the breach going after the conviction, you commit a new offence. Each day the breach continues you can be fined, although the court may give you a reasonable period to remedy the breach before daily fines start.
Damage or interfere with a highway
Fine up to £1,000If you dig, remove soil, dump material, light a fire or discharge a weapon within 50 ft of a road and damage the highway, or if you pull down a road sign, milestone or direction post without authority, you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000. No prison term is provided for this offence.
Deposit or keep a builder’s skip on a highway without permission or breach conditions
Fine up to £1,000If you place a builder’s skip on a public road without the highway authority’s permission, or you ignore any conditions attached to that permission (such as lighting, marking, size or removal), you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you can be fined up to £1,000 (level 3 on the standard scale). No custodial sentence is mentioned in the statute.
Deposit waste on a highway that injures or endangers users
Fine up to £1,000If you place any object, material or waste on a public road without permission and someone is injured or put at risk, you commit an offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000. The matter is dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court.
Deposit waste or pitch a stall on a highway
Fine up to £1,000If you (or anyone acting for your business) put dung, compost, rubbish or any other material on a highway in a way that blocks or disturbs users, or set up a booth, stall, stand or encamp on a highway without legal authority, you commit an offence. Conviction is dealt with in the magistrates' court and can result in a fine of up to £1,000. No custodial sentence is provided for this offence.
Disturb the surface of a footpath, bridleway or highway
Fine up to £1,000If you or anyone acting for you damages or alters the surface of a footpath, bridleway or other highway in a way that makes it inconvenient for the public to use it, you commit a criminal offence. The offence is triggered by any unauthorised disturbance that interferes with the public right of way. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000; there is no prison term attached.
Erect building closer to highway than prescribed building line
Fine up to £200If you construct a new building, wall or fence, or carry out permanent excavation nearer to the centre line of a public highway than the building line set by the highway authority, without their consent, you commit an offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £200, and if the breach continues after conviction you incur a further daily fine of £2 for each day of continued breach.
Erect building, fence or hedge on a highway without authority
Fine up to £1,000If you or your company put up a building, fence or plant a hedge on a public highway (a road used for traffic) without lawful authority or a valid excuse, you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000. No imprisonment is provided for this offence.
Erect building on private street without paying required street‑works contribution
Fine up to £1,000If you build a new property that fronts a private street and you have not paid (or proved that you have paid) the contribution the street‑works authority requires for any street works, you commit an offence. Both the landowner and, if different, the builder can be prosecuted. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000; each repeat breach is a separate offence.
Erect scaffolding that obstructs a highway without a licence
Unlimited fineIf you put up scaffolding or any other structure on a road that blocks traffic and you do not have a written licence from the highway authority, or you fail to follow the licence conditions (such as lighting or signage duties), you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face an unlimited fine. No prison term is prescribed for this offence.
Erect unauthorised retaining wall near a street
Fine up to £1,000If you build a retaining wall within 4 yards of a street that is higher than 4 ft 6 in above ground level without having the plans, sections and specifications approved by the local authority (and the highway authority consulted where required), you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000, dealt with in the magistrates' court.
Fail to alter door, gate or bar that opens outwards onto a street
Fine up to £200If you install a door, gate or bar that opens onto a public street and it opens outwards, you must get consent from the local or highway authority. If consent is refused, the authority can serve a notice requiring you to change it, and you must comply within 8 days. Ignoring the notice is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of up to £200.
Fail to comply with court order to remove highway obstruction
Unlimited fineIf you are convicted of wilfully obstructing a highway and the court orders you to clear the obstruction within a set time, you must do so. If you do not remove it without a reasonable excuse, you commit a further offence and can be fined – the fine can be unlimited, plus a daily fine of up to £250 for each day the obstruction continues.
Fail to comply with highway authority conditions for excavations
Fine up to £1,000If you (as the occupier of agricultural land) apply to the highway authority for permission to disturb a footpath, bridleway or restricted byway and the order includes conditions – for example providing signs, diversion facilities or repairing the surface – you must comply with those conditions. Failing to do so is a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000 and the case will be dealt with in a magistrates' court.
Fail to comply with highway pruning order
Fine up to £200If a hedge or tree on your land is shading a highway and a magistrates’ court orders you to cut, prune or lop it, you must do the work within the 10‑day period set in the order. Failing to do so is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of up to £200, and the highway authority can do the work themselves and recover the cost from you.
Fail to comply with highway water‑prevention notice
Fine up to £200If your business premises are next to a highway and the highway authority serves you a notice requiring you to install or maintain gutters, down‑pipes or drainage to stop water falling onto the road or footway, you must carry out the work within 28 days. Failing to do so is a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £200, and if the breach continues you will be fined £2 for each day it continues.
Fail to comply with notice to stop soil from washing onto street
Fine up to £1,000If a highway or council authority serves you with a notice requiring works to prevent soil or waste from your land getting onto a public street, you must carry out the works within 28 days. Not doing so makes you guilty of an offence. On conviction you face a maximum fine of £1,000, and a further daily fine of up to £1 for each day the breach continues.
Fail to comply with obstruction‑to‑view notice
Fine up to £200If a highway authority serves you with a notice requiring you to alter or stop putting up walls, fences, hoardings, trees or other objects near a corner or bend to keep the view clear, you must comply. Ignoring or breaching that notice is a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £200 and, if the breach continues, a further fine of £2 for each day it persists.
Fail to erect or maintain required hoarding
Fine up to £1,000If you are planning to erect, take down, alter or repair a building that fronts onto a street or court, you must put up a close‑boarded hoarding or fence (and any required platform, handrail or lighting) before you start work, and keep it in good condition until the authority says otherwise. Not doing so, or refusing a lawful requirement, is a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000, plus a daily fine of £2 for every day the breach continues after conviction.
Fail to follow highway consent conditions for deposits or excavations
Fine up to £10If you place building materials, waste or make a temporary excavation in a public street without the highway authority’s consent, or you breach any conditions attached to that consent, or you ignore the duty to put up signs, fences, lights or to remove the material promptly, you commit an offence. On conviction you will be fined up to £10 for each day the breach continues.
Fail to keep highway clear of crops
Fine up to £1,000If you occupy agricultural land where a non‑grass crop is grown and a public footpath, bridleway or other highway crosses it, you must keep the highway line visible and stop the crop from narrowing the highway below its minimum width. Failing to do so is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of up to £1,000. The case will be dealt with in the magistrates' court.
Fail to provide or give false land‑ownership information
2 years imprisonmentIf a highway authority or council asks you (as the occupier of premises or a landlord) to put in writing who owns the land and any other interested parties, you must comply. Not providing the information is a criminal offence with a fine up to £1,000. Giving a false statement is even more serious – on summary conviction you can be fined up to £1,000, and on indictment you face up to two years' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.
Fail to provide required barriers, signs or lighting on street works
Fine up to £10If you carry out any kind of work in a street and do not put up the necessary safety barriers, traffic signs and lighting required by law, you are breaking the duty. Each day the failure continues you can be fined up to £10.
Fail to remove obstruction after notice
Fine up to £200If a local authority serves you (as owner or occupier) a notice requiring the removal or alteration of a porch, shed, sign, fence or any other projection that blocks safe passage along a street, you must comply within 14 days. Failing to do so creates a criminal offence. You can be fined up to £200 and the authority may remove the obstruction itself and recover the cost from you.
Fail to remove or reposition a builders’ skip when required
Fine up to £1,000If a highway authority or a police constable tells you to remove or move a builders’ skip that’s been placed on a highway, you must do it as soon as practicable. Not doing so is a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000, but no prison term.
Fail to repair footpath or bridleway after temporary diversion
Fine up to £1,000If your business diverts a footpath or bridleway under section 135A, you must fix any damage and remove any obstructions before the diversion ends. Failing to do so is a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000, but no prison term.
Fail to restore footpath after disturbing it while ploughing
Fine up to £1,000If you, as the occupier of agricultural land, disturb a public footpath or bridleway while ploughing and do not repair it to its minimum width within the required time (14 days for first sowing, otherwise 24 hours, or any extension granted), you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000. No prison term is provided for this breach.
Fail to securely fix a hoarding
Fine up to £200If you put up a hoarding, scaffold fence or similar structure next to a street and it is not securely fixed to the council’s satisfaction, you are committing an offence. On conviction you can be fined up to £200, and if the breach continues after conviction you face a further fine of up to £1 for each day it continues. No imprisonment is mentioned.
Fail to widen or remove a gate after a notice
Fine up to £0If a highway authority serves you with a notice requiring you to widen a gate (to at least 10 ft on a road or 5 ft on a bridleway) or to remove it, you must comply within 21 days. Failing to do so is a criminal offence and you will be fined 50 p for every day the breach continues.
Interfere with or remove flagpoles on a highway
Fine up to £1,000If you or anyone acting for you tampers with, damages or removes a flagpole, pylon or similar structure that a local authority has put on a public highway, you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000. No prison term is prescribed for this offence.
Issue false or misleading certificate for highway order application
Unlimited fineIf your business submits a certificate as part of an application for a highway order (e.g., path extinguishment or diversion) and the certificate contains a material statement that is false or misleading, and you know it is false or act recklessly, you commit an offence. Conviction results in a summary‑court fine up to level 5 on the standard scale (effectively unlimited). The offence can be prosecuted up to three years after it occurs.
Knowingly use footway or verge as vehicle crossing in breach of conditions
Fine up to £1,000If you, or someone acting for you, deliberately drives a vehicle across a footway or verge in breach of a condition that a highway authority has imposed, you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you will be fined up to £1,000. The offence is dealt with in the Magistrates' Court.
Leave material on highway at night without precautions
Fine up to £200If you or your staff place a heap of material or any object on a public highway and allow it to remain there overnight, creating a danger to traffic, and you do not take reasonable steps to prevent accidents, you commit an offence. Conviction is dealt with in the magistrates' court and can result in a fine of up to £200.
Light a fire on non‑highway land that endangers highway users
Unlimited fineIf you or your business start a fire on land that is not part of a road and that fire – or the smoke it produces – injures, endangers or interrupts anyone using a nearby highway, you commit a criminal offence. You may avoid conviction only if you can show you had reasonable grounds to believe no danger existed and you took all reasonable steps to prevent any harm. A conviction can result in an unlimited fine.
Make false or misleading diversion notice or fail to meet diversion standards
Fine up to £1,000If you divert a footpath or bridleway and either give a notice that contains a material false statement, falsely claim you are authorised to divert, or you do not meet the required standards for the diversion, you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000 but no prison term.
Mix or drop mortar on a highway
Fine up to £2,500If you or your workers mix, pour or otherwise place mortar, cement or similar substances directly on a public road or highway – and the material could stick to the road surface or harden in drains – you commit a criminal offence. The offence carries a fine of up to £2,500; there is no prison term. The offence applies to anyone, including businesses and contractors, unless you have a specific exemption such as a street‑works licence or are acting on behalf of the highway authority.
Obstruct authorised entry for footpath/bridleway survey
Fine up to £1,000If you deliberately block someone who has written authorisation to enter your land to survey for footpath, bridleway or related orders, you commit a criminal offence. The offence carries a maximum fine of £1,000. No imprisonment is mentioned, so the penalty is a monetary fine only.
Obstruct execution of highway works
Fine up to £200If you deliberately block or interfere with anyone carrying out work authorised under the Highways Act 1980 (including work under any related byelaw or order), you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you can be fined up to £200, and if you continue to obstruct after being convicted you can be fined £5 for each day the obstruction continues.
Open or keep open a filled roadside ditch without authority
If you or anyone acting for your business digs out or leaves open a roadside ditch that the highway authority has filled in, and you have not got the authority’s written consent, you are committing an offence. The authority can carry out repair work, recover those costs, and you can be fined up to three times the amount they spent on the repairs. No jail term is prescribed for this breach.
Place rope or apparatus across a highway without adequate warning
Fine up to £1,000If you or your business puts rope, wire or any other equipment across a road in a way that could endanger road users, and you do not give sufficient warning of the danger, you commit an offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000 (level 3 on the standard scale). No prison term is prescribed for this offence.
Place unauthorised marks on highways
Fine up to £2,500If you or anyone acting for your business paints, stickers, signs or any other picture, letter or mark on a road, footpath, tree, structure or works on a highway without the highway authority’s consent or a legal authorisation, you commit an offence. Conviction carries a fine of up to £2,500 and you may be required to remove the mark. No prison term is provided for this offence.
Plant trees or shrubs within 15 ft of a highway without permission
Fine up to £200You must not plant a tree or shrub in a made‑up carriageway or within 15 feet of its centre. If a highway authority serves you with a notice to remove the planting and you do not do so within 21 days, you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £200 and an additional daily fine of 50p for each day the offence continues.
Sell goods from a roadside stall without permission
Fine up to £1,000If you set up a stall, container, vehicle or other structure on the verge of a trunk or principal road, in a lay‑by or within 15 m of such a road where it creates or could create danger or disrupt traffic, you are breaking the law. The offence applies to anyone who does this for the purpose of selling anything. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000, dealt with in the Magistrates' Court.
Take highway materials without authority consent
Fine up to £200If you remove any material that a highway authority has obtained for highway repairs, or take material from a quarry or excavation opened by the authority before the authority’s workers have stopped work there for six weeks, without the authority’s permission, you commit a criminal offence. Conviction can lead to a fine of up to £200 and will be dealt with in the magistrates' court.
Unauthorised opening or works under a street
Fine up to £200If you create an opening in a footway to a cellar, vault or install ventilation or light works under a street without getting consent from the local authority – or ignore any conditions they impose – you are committing a criminal offence. On conviction you face a summary‑court fine of up to £200 (and any other civil liability that may apply).
Use a private access that has been stopped up
Fine up to £1,000If you or your business use a private driveway, road or other access that has been legally closed (stopped up) under sections 124, 125 or 127 of the Highways Act, you are committing an offence unless you are exercising a public right of way. On conviction you face a fine of up to £1,000. No prison term is mentioned for this offence.
Wilfully obstruct a highway
51 weeks imprisonmentIf you deliberately block or impede free passage along a public road without lawful authority, you commit a criminal offence. This can happen if your business places equipment, vehicles, or other obstacles on a highway and does not have permission. On conviction you face up to 51 weeks' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.
Wilfully obstruct highway‑authority entry or interfere with apparatus
Fine up to £1,000If anyone deliberately blocks a highway authority officer who is exercising a power of entry under sections 289 or 291, or tampers with equipment the authority has placed on the land, they commit a criminal offence. On conviction the offender faces a fine of up to £1,000 and no prison term.
Wilfully remove a highway barrier or access slot
Fine up to £200If you deliberately take down or tamper with a barrier, socket or slot that a local authority has erected under the Highways Act, you commit a criminal offence. On conviction you face a fine of up to £200, dealt with in the Magistrates' Court. No imprisonment is provided for this offence.
Reporting and filing 1
Claim compensation for loss caused by a public path order
If a new public footpath, bridleway or by‑way is created over your land and it reduces the land’s value or interferes with how you use it, you can claim compensation from the authority that made the order. You must submit your claim within the time limit and in the way set out by the regulations.
Penalties for non-compliance
55 penalties under this legislation. 2 can result in imprisonment. 8 carry an unlimited fine.
Fail to provide or give false land‑ownership information
Unlimited fine and/or 2 years imprisonment
Wilfully obstruct a highway
Unlimited fine and/or 51 weeks imprisonment
Carry out building work that creates a risk of serious injury
Unlimited fine
Continue a highway offence after conviction
Unlimited fine
Erect scaffolding that obstructs a highway without a licence
Unlimited fine
Fail to comply with court order to remove highway obstruction
Unlimited fine
Issue false or misleading certificate for highway order application
Unlimited fine
Light a fire on non‑highway land that endangers highway users
Unlimited fine
Mix or drop mortar on a highway
Fine up to £2,500
Place unauthorised marks on highways
Fine up to £2,500
Allow livestock to stray onto a highway
Fine up to £1,000
Damage or interfere with a highway
Fine up to £1,000
Deposit or keep a builder’s skip on a highway without permission or breach conditions
Fine up to £1,000
Deposit waste on a highway that injures or endangers users
Fine up to £1,000
Deposit waste or pitch a stall on a highway
Fine up to £1,000
Disturb the surface of a footpath, bridleway or highway
Fine up to £1,000
Erect building, fence or hedge on a highway without authority
Fine up to £1,000
Erect building on private street without paying required street‑works contribution
Fine up to £1,000
Erect unauthorised retaining wall near a street
Fine up to £1,000
Fail to comply with highway authority conditions for excavations
Fine up to £1,000
Fail to comply with notice to stop soil from washing onto street
Fine up to £1,000
Fail to erect or maintain required hoarding
Fine up to £1,000
Fail to keep highway clear of crops
Fine up to £1,000
Fail to remove or reposition a builders’ skip when required
Fine up to £1,000
Fail to repair footpath or bridleway after temporary diversion
Fine up to £1,000
Fail to restore footpath after disturbing it while ploughing
Fine up to £1,000
Interfere with or remove flagpoles on a highway
Fine up to £1,000
Knowingly use footway or verge as vehicle crossing in breach of conditions
Fine up to £1,000
Make false or misleading diversion notice or fail to meet diversion standards
Fine up to £1,000
Obstruct authorised entry for footpath/bridleway survey
Fine up to £1,000
Place rope or apparatus across a highway without adequate warning
Fine up to £1,000
Sell goods from a roadside stall without permission
Fine up to £1,000
Use a private access that has been stopped up
Fine up to £1,000
Wilfully obstruct highway‑authority entry or interfere with apparatus
Fine up to £1,000
Construct or use a bridge without a licence or breach licence terms
Fine up to £500
Construct or excavate within improvement line without consent
Fine up to £200
Erect building closer to highway than prescribed building line
Fine up to £200
Fail to alter door, gate or bar that opens outwards onto a street
Fine up to £200
Fail to comply with highway pruning order
Fine up to £200
Fail to comply with highway water‑prevention notice
Fine up to £200
Fail to comply with obstruction‑to‑view notice
Fine up to £200
Fail to remove obstruction after notice
Fine up to £200
Fail to securely fix a hoarding
Fine up to £200
Leave material on highway at night without precautions
Fine up to £200
Obstruct execution of highway works
Fine up to £200
Plant trees or shrubs within 15 ft of a highway without permission
Fine up to £200
Take highway materials without authority consent
Fine up to £200
Unauthorised opening or works under a street
Fine up to £200
Wilfully remove a highway barrier or access slot
Fine up to £200
Knowingly use grass verge or footway as a crossing
Fine up to £20
Fail to follow highway consent conditions for deposits or excavations
Fine up to £10
Fail to provide required barriers, signs or lighting on street works
Fine up to £10
Fail to widen or remove a gate after a notice
Fine up to £0
Company and officers liable for highway offences committed with their consent or neglect
Penalty applies
Open or keep open a filled roadside ditch without authority
Penalty applies
Practical guidance
Our guides explain how to comply with the requirements above.
Adopt new roads and streets for developers
How to get new roads adopted as publicly maintained highways through Section 38 agreements under the Highways Act 1980. Covers …
Carry out works affecting the strategic road network
How to obtain National Highways approval before carrying out works on or adjacent to motorways and trunk roads in England. …
Outdoor trading and pavement licensing for hospitality
Pavement licences for outdoor seating, A-board permits, and requirements for placing tables, chairs and signage on public highways for pubs, …
Highway works and street works permits
How to obtain permits and comply with regulations when carrying out works on public highways in England and Wales. Covers …
Get licences from your local council
Comprehensive guide to local authority licensing requirements including premises licences for alcohol and entertainment, food business registration, street trading, pavement …
Sections and provisions
463 classified provisions from this legislation.
Duties 48
- s.2 Highway authority for road which ceases to be a trunk road.
- s.4 Agreement for exercise by Minister or strategic highways company of certain functions of local highway authority as respects highway affected by construction, etc. of trunk road.
- s.6 Delegation etc. of functions with respect to trunk roads. shall not delegate functions
- Schedule 10 Procedure for Determination by Highway Authority of Certain Questions Arising in Connection with Provision of Cattle-Grid or By-Pass a highway authority
- s.14C Certification and records of GLA roads.
- s.25 Creation of footpath , bridleway or restricted byway by agreement. local authority
- s.27 Making up of new footpaths , bridleways and restricted byways. highway authority
- s.28 Compensation for loss caused by public path creation order.
- s.29 Duty to have regard to agriculture, forestry and nature conservation. councils
- s.31A Register of maps, statements and declarations. The appropriate council
- s.41 Duty to maintain highways maintainable at public expense. is
- s.71 Margins for horses and livestock. a highway authority
- s.90C Consultation and local inquiries.
- s.90 Protection of bridges and railways. A highway authority
- s.103 Provision of posts to indicate depth of flood water. a highway authority
- s.105B Publication of screening decision and environmental statement for projects subject to an environmental impact assessment The project authority
- s.105BA Co-ordination
- s.105CC Timing of conclusion and decision
- s.105CB Decision about whether or not to proceed with a project subject to an environmental impact assessment
- s.105AB Publication of screening decisions: projects not to be subject to an environmental impact assessment
- ... and 28 more duties
Offences and penalties 57
- s.46 Supplemental provisions with respect to the getting of materials under section 45.
- s.73 Power to prescribe improvement line for widening street.
- s.74 Power to prescribe a building line.
- s.79 Prevention of obstruction to view at corners.
- s.100 Drainage of highways.
- s.101 Power to fill in roadside ditches etc.
- s.121A Regulations with respect to applications for orders.
- s.128 Penalty for using access which has been stopped up.
- s.131A Disturbance of surface of certain highways.
- s.131 Penalty for damaging highway etc.
- s.132 Unauthorised marks on highways.
- s.134 Ploughing etc. of footpath or bridleway.
- s.135B Temporary diversion for dangerous works: supplementary.
- s.135A Temporary diversion for dangerous works.
- s.135 Authorisation of other works disturbing footpath , bridleway or restricted byway.
- s.136 Damage to highway consequent on exclusion of sun and wind.
- s.137ZA Power to order offender to remove obstruction.
- s.137 Penalty for wilful obstruction.
- s.137A Interference by crops.
- s.138 Penalty for erecting building, etc., in highway.
- ... and 37 more offences and penalties
Powers 150
- Schedule 6 Provisions as to Making, Confirmation, Validity and Date of Operation of Certain Orders Relating to Footpaths , Bridleways and Restricted Byways
- Schedule 8 Consents Required for Execution of Certain Works in Streets
- s.8 Agreements between local highway authorities and strategic highways companies for doing of certain works.
- s.9 Seconding of staff etc.
- s.10 General provision as to trunk roads.
- s.13 Power to change designation of principal roads.
- s.14B Orders of the Authority changing what are GLA roads.
- s.14A Designation of first GLA roads by Secretary of State.
- s.14 Powers as respects roads that cross or join trunk or classified roads.
- s.17 Classification of traffic for purposes of special roads.
- s.18 Supplementary orders relating to special roads.
- s.23 Compensation in respect of certain works executed in pursuance of orders under section 14 or 18.
- s.24 Construction of new highways and provision of road-ferries.
- s.30 Dedication of highway by agreement with parish or community council.
- s.31 Dedication of way as highway presumed after public use for 20 years.
- s.33 Protection of rights of reversioners.
- s.35 Creation of walkways by agreement.
- s.42 Power of district councils to maintain certain highways.
- s.43 Power of parish and community councils to maintain footpaths , bridleways and restricted byways.
- s.44 Person liable to maintain highway may agree to maintain publicly maintainable highway.
- ... and 130 more powers
Definitions 60
- s.1 Highway authorities: general provision.
- Schedule 1 Procedures for Making or Confirming Certain Orders and Schemes
- s.26 Compulsory powers for creation of footpaths , bridleways and restricted byways.
- s.37 Provisions whereby highway created by dedication may become maintainable at public expense.
- s.53 Power of magistrates’ court to extinguish liability to maintain privately maintainable highway.
- s.54 Extinguishment of liability to maintain privately maintainable highway diverted by order of magistrates’ court.
- s.62 General power of improvement.
- s.84 Maintenance of cattle-grids and by-passes.
- s.86 Supersession of gates by cattle-grids.
- s.90F Meaning of “road hump” and interpretation of sections 90A to 90E.
- s.105A Screening of projects for constructing or improving highways
- s.105ZA Interpretation
- s.111 Interpretation of Part VI.
- s.112 Provision of picnic sites and public conveniences for users of trunk roads.
- s.115J Consents not to be unreasonably withheld.
- s.115A Scope of Part VIIA.
- s.115 Provision of areas for parking heavy goods vehicles, etc.
- s.118B Stopping up of certain highways for purposes of crime prevention, etc.
- s.118C Application by proprietor of school for special extinguishment order.
- s.119D Diversion of certain highways for protection of sites of special scientific interest.
- ... and 40 more definitions
Exemptions 43
- s.3 Highway authority for approaches to and parts of certain bridges.
- s.14D Construction of provisions relating to GLA roads.
- Schedule 15 Application of Advance Payments Code
- s.21 Extinguishment of rights of statutory undertakers as to apparatus etc. in connection with orders under section 14 or 18 and schemes under section 16.
- s.36 Highways maintainable at public expense.
- s.51 No liability to maintain by reason of enclosure if highway fenced with consent of highway authority.
- s.55 Extinguishment of liability to maintain or improve bridges comprised in trunk roads and special roads.
- s.58 Special defence in action against a highway authority for damages for non-repair of highway.
- s.95 Supplemental provisions as to orders and agreements under sections 93 and 94.
- s.96A Duty of local highway authorities in England to consult before felling street trees
- s.110 Power to divert non-navigable watercourses and to carry out other works on any watercourse.
- s.114 Provision of public conveniences by county council for users of roads for which they are the highway authority.
- s.121E Determination of appeals.
- s.130A Notices to enforce duty regarding public paths.
- s.140B Builders' skips: charge determined by reference to duration of occupation of highway
- s.146 Duty to maintain stiles etc. on footpaths , bridleways and restricted byways.
- s.166 Forecourt abutting on streets.
- s.171B Scaffolding, building materials and excavations: charge determined by reference to duration of occupation of highway
- s.175B Consent of highway authority required for trunk road access
- s.177 Restriction on construction of buildings over highways.
- ... and 23 more exemptions