HAS the south gone road sign mad? Are too many confusing signs lining our roads, baffling visitors and locals alike?

And what about the A-boards, bike racks and other street furniture cluttering pavements and presenting pedestrian hazards?

This week the Government urged councils to cut street clutter by getting rid of unnecessary signs, railings and advertising hoardings.

Ministers are worried the character of our towns is being blighted and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Transport Secretary Philip Hammond have now written to council leaders calling on them to reduce the number of signs and other “street clutter”.

The Government believes too many traffic signs and railings are installed by councils in the mistaken belief that they are legally required. In fact, although some signs are required by law, Government advice is to keep them to a minimum.

To help councils do this the Department for Transport is reviewing traffic signs policy and new advice on how to reduce clutter will be published later this year.

The Department for Transport highlighted Salisbury, where a parking area for 53 cars has 63 bollards. And the removal of street clutter from Kensington High Street in west London was praised for reducing accidents by up to 47 per cent.

Mr Pickles said: “Our streets are losing their English character. We are being overrun by scruffy signs, bossy bollards, patchwork paving and railed-off roads – wasting taxpayers’ money that could be better spent on fixing potholes or keeping council tax down. We need to ‘cut the clutter’.

“Too many overly cautious town hall officials are citing safety regulations as the reason for cluttering up our streets with an obstacle course, when the truth is very little is dictated by law.”

But Southampton City Council’s head of highways and parking Mick Bishop said the authority began a drive to remove clutter three years ago.

“The council was among the first local authorities to remove large numbers of parking restriction signs and unwanted railings and bollards,” he said, adding that the practice had been recognised at the highest level.

A £1.5m revamp of London Road, where street clutter was dramatically reduced, won the nationally acclaimed Urban Transport Design award and is being used as a case study for best practice by the department of Transport. The road has also seen a reduction in accidents.

But Mr Bishop added: “Many road signs and markings are required by law, including some of those at junctions. However, where we can we will continue to strip back roads of excessive signs to make it less confusing for motorists.

“New schemes, where appropriate, are designed to reflect more modern thinking about shared public space. Where it is safe and permitted to do so, the rigid separation that some street furniture, road markings, and signs reinforce is modified or eliminated. This approach is evident throughout the length of the QE2 Mile and at the recently refurbished Guildhall Square.”

Councillor Mel Kendal, Hampshire County Council’s executive member for environment, said: “We are supportive of the sentiments expressed by the minister, and have been proactive in the removal of unnecessary sign clutter and lines, in conjunction with other work to enhance the quality and character of the urban and rural environment.

“We do not believe it would be practical or safe for all signs and traffic lights to be removed completely but some signs have been removed along the A32 in the Meon Valley, in West Meon as well as in Buriton.

“Signage is kept to a minimum in new developments, in line with the new highways policy. In all these cases the emphasis has been not only on enhancing the quality of the environment but on improving safety, and we have worked closely with local communities and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England in the development of the schemes in villages.”

Ralph Smyth, senior transport campaigner for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said: “Clutter needs to be tackled in both rural and urban areas.With every local council in England drawing up new local transport plans, this welcome move could not be better timed. Clutter is not just ugly – it’s expensive and distracts drivers.”

In 2006 a survey by the Hampshire section of the CPRE of a seven-mile section of the B3006 in the South Downs National Park revealed an average of 45 signs per mile.

Paul Watters, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “In a poll of AA members, 76 per cent agreed that not all road signs were useful and 50 per cent said there were too many signs.

“However, a follow-up poll to establish which signs could be removed found 45 per cent actually wanted more speed limit signs, 37 per cent wanted more direction signs, 34 per cent wanted more parking signs and 36 per cent wanted more warning signs.”