West Yorkshire has been branded a "hoarding hotspot" by campaigners fighting huge advertising boards at the side of motorways.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says mobile advertising hoardings are a dangerous distraction to motorists and an eyesore scarring the countryside

A total of 26 mobile hoardings were found alongside the 37 mile stretch of the M62 in West Yorkshire - one of the highest in the country according to the CPRE survey.

A similar survey carried out by the Telegraph & Argus has found a total of ten hoardings alongside the M606 and M62 motorways.

The boards advertise things as diverse as curry houses, luxury apartments and buggies.

Many of the boards contain telephone numbers, distracting the drivers eyes for several seconds.

CPRE planning campaigner Paul Miner said: "For more than 50 years, planning controls have saved the English landscape from the pox of outdoor advertising. This achievement is now in danger.

"Billboards and hoardings are mushrooming alongside motorways and major roads across England, despite Government policy and regulations clearly stating they should be strictly controlled."

Mr Miner called upon local council's to take action against advertisers who place hoardings on roadsides without permission.

The CPRE estimates there are about 900 of the attention-grabbing advertisements across the country, most of which are set up without the proper consent of planning bosses at local councils.

In some parts of the country motorists pass a hoarding every 30 seconds.

John Denham, CPRE West Yorkshire branch chairman, said that the transient nature of the hoardings made it difficult for planning bosses to keep track of where they are.

"Part of the problem lies in the fact they can move, making their regulation difficult," he said.

"These things are generally placed at junctions and other places where traffic has to slow down. This is obviously good from an advertising point of view as advertisers can get as much of the motorists attention as possible.

"But the hoardings do act as a distraction for drivers, encouraging them to take their eyes of the road.

"What we want to do is discourage the spread of these things across our roads."

The CPRE's survey also found six websites specialising in road side advertising, one of which claimed that "by being completely mobile we have the flexibility to put your advertisement where planning permission would not normally have been granted."

The Outdoor Advertising Council has publicly disassociated itself from motorway advertising hoardings.