Farmers' Markets in west Oxfordshire have won a battle to keep their roadside adverts.

District councillors have given them planning permission to keep using the 2ft square signs at Chipping Norton and Charlbury.

But there is another battle on, to win similar consent for Witney and Woodstock.

The go-ahead, by the council's uplands planning sub-committee, was against a background of a determined crackdown on illegal fly posting by a different council department.

The Thames Valley Farmers' Market Co-operative has been putting up the signs for the monthly markets for the past 18 months, but was told it would be prosecuted if it carried on.

After being advised to seek planning permission, costing over £1,000, members were then dismayed to learn that planning officers were recommending refusal on the grounds that it would set a precedent for an increasing clutter of roadside signs.

Co-operative spokesman Pete Williams said yesterday: "All but one of the uplands councillors supported us. That's very encouraging. We have played it by the book and won this first round.

"The signs are really important for us because we only hold the markets once a month, every three months in Charlbury, and we need to make people aware of them on the day."

The organisers can now legally put up 15 signs around Charlbury and 11 at Chipping Norton, for a maximum of three days at a time.

They now have to hope Monday's meeting of the council's lowlands planning sub-committee gives the go-ahead for Witney - against town council wishes.

Town councillor David Harvey, who is leading the district council's clampdown on illegal fly-posting, said: "The markets are a commercial concern.

"The only signs we allow are for local charities or non-profit making events. That's why we told them to apply for planning permission."