A SCOTS council has agreed to ban political parties putting up election posters on its property.

Members at Inverclyde Council have backed a motion calling for the authority to revoke its consent to allow the display of election posters on property including lighting columns, roadside verges and street furniture which it owns.

Provost Robert Moran said: "We have all seen the proliferation of party posters in the run up to elections and there is no doubt they can be hugely distracting for motorists and pedestrians alike. Once the polls have closed the people who put them up in the first place are often slow to remove them which puts pressure on the Council's roads service who end up having to take them down."

The display of election posters is banned in a number of Scottish councils and is also banned on trunk roads under the control of Transport Scotland.

But the ban has been cited as a factor in low turnout in 2012's local election when more than 20 authorities agreed to restrictions.