Firms that park logo-clad vans on motorway bridges to advertise their wares are facing a new crackdown.

Councillors in the area have branded the vans dangerous, saying they could distract the motorway’s high-speed drivers.

So from today, Kirklees Council is banning vehicles from parking on three key bridges across the busy M62.

Double yellow lines are being painted across the Bradford Road and Whitehall Road bridges in Birkenshaw and the Fieldhead Lane bridge in Birstall.

Any vehicles which fail to obey the new rules will face fines of £70.

Councillor Liz Smaje (Con, Birstall and Birkenshaw), who led the campaign, said she and her ward colleagues had been inundated with complaints from locals about the vans, and also about people using the bridges to advertise cars for sale.

She said: “Cars for sale on the bridges are an eye-sore and the advertising a danger for vehicles travelling on the motorway.

“They are very unpopular with local residents and had to be stopped.

“I, and my ward colleagues, are delighted that we have finally been able to secure legal support to remove the offenders.”

Coun Smaje said the bridges weren’t designed to hold any number of parked cars and vans.

She said: “These bridges are not for parking vehicles on. And, you know, we’re not free advertising.”

The move has been welcomed by the Highways Agency, which manages motorways. A spokesman said: “Planning regulations note that advertisements have the sole purpose of distracting a driver's attention. Therefore, we would not be able to endorse any advertising at any location alongside the strategic road network in West Yorkshire.

“The Highways Agency would object to the relevant local planning authority where we have reason to consider that advertising hoardings placed on over-bridges were a road safety hazard or distraction to drivers without contributing to route-finding.”