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REFERENDUM activists are running up a huge bill for taxpayers by slapping campaign stickers on road signs, a council warned yesterday.

The stickers – from both sides of the debate – are multiplying as decision day draws closer.

Clean-up crews are spending whole days removing them so they do not obscure vital information.

And officials say it will cost even more in the long run as the strong adhesive used on the stickers damages the signs – which cost an average of £350 each.

The warning comes from Moray Council, who say the practice is growing despite a pre-campaign agreement from all political parties that they would not flypost.

A council spokesman said: “Three weeks ago, there were just six signs affected. Yesterday there were 25.

“It takes a roads engineer a full day to clean up all the affected road signs in Moray, only to find many are targeted with new stickers within 24 hours.”

The area’s referendum returning officer, Mark Palmer, said the adhesive on the stickers pulls a protective layer off signs when they are removed by staff.

He said: “The top layer of clear plastic is being damaged when road staff peel the stickers off,.

“This leaves the sign vulnerable to water ingress and corrosion, which will shorten its life considerably. These signs are on average £350 each, with some of the large A-road ones costing much more.

“The lettering on some of the older signs that have just a painted surface has been coming off with the stickers, so these will need to be replaced more urgently.”

The council spokesman added: “As the referendum is still seven weeks away, this is likely to increase, so hopefully campaigners will hear our plea and use other places to promote their cause.”

Meanwhile more than 100 bikes for hire in Glasgow have also been targeted by referendum campaigners.

About £600,000 was ploughed into an initiative to offer 400 rental bikes at 31 locations across the city earlier this year.

But referendum stickers have been plastered on the bikes and council staff have had to remove them.

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “We have not had to recall any of the hire bikes as yet but damage to the branding on the bikes could lead to them being taken out of service.

“One in four of the bikes have been targeted with referendum stickers but they have been removed or replaced with a blank sticker. We would urge people to stop vandalising the bikes.”

A spokesman for Yes Scotland said: “We ask all our volunteers to exercise the utmost care and responsibility when distributing campaign literature and materials. We trust that campaigners on both sides will act sensibly.”

A Better Together spokesperson said: “Nobody on either side of this debate should vandalise property in this way.”