A FLOORING company that flouted planning rules by displaying advertising boards illegally has been forced to pay more than £2,000. Floors 2 Go was ordered to pay a fine of £1,000 and costs of £1,290 for displaying advertisements without planning permissio

A FLOORING company that flouted planning rules by displaying advertising boards illegally has been forced to pay more than £2,000.Floors 2 Go was ordered to pay a fine of £1,000 and costs of £1,290 for displaying advertisements without planning permission near its store in Aisecombe Way, Weston.North Somerset Council brought the case against the national company after complaints from members of the public about the adverts. Sally Andrews, prosecuting, told North Somerset Magistrates Courts in St Georges, how a letter, a site visit and a summons from the council had not solved the problem.During a visit in February, the council's compliance monitoring officer Mark Heppenstall found two placards for Floors 2 Go on the grass verge at the junction of Aisecombe Way and Herluin Way.There were also unauthorised poster boards at the front and the rear of the flooring showroom, she said.Mrs Andrews said a summons was slapped on the company on April 11 but all the advertisements had still not been removed by May 4.David Vizor, defending, admitted the offence but said there had been a communication breakdown between the council and the company. He said: "It is regrettable but letters from the council did not reach the firm's head office."Staff in Weston have been over zealous with signage. "We have now put in a planning application and stopped displaying the signs the council took exception to."Magistrates rejected Mr Visor's plea for leniency on the grounds that other companies in the area were displaying similar banners and adverts.On imposing the fine and an order for costs, the magistrates said an aggravating factor had been the time it had taken for the company to take the signs down.