A TRADITIONAL village fun event is the latest to attract the ire of council flyposting officers and organisers are a tad miffed.

Bampton's annual shirt race takes place on Saturday, but the people behind it have been ordered to remove boards placed on roadside verges around the village to advertise the event.

Don Rouse said it was the first time he could remember that villagers had been told to take them down.

"This is the 55th year of shirt racing in Bampton. I can remember most of them and this has never happened before," he said.

"Apparently, it's all to do with new legislation imposed to stop advertising boards being put up. I personally can't see the harm in them. They're only up for a few days and help attract visitors for a fundraising weekend.

"We have always put them up a week or more in advance, so that more people passing through get to know about it."

The get-tough policy ordered by West Oxfordshire District Council and the county council has caused controversy elsewhere.

The Charlbury Beer Festival was told to take down similar roadside boards and last year Thames Valley Farmers' Markets Co-operative clashed with the distrct council over signs advertising markets in Witney, Chipping Norton, Charlbury and Woodstock.

The Bampton shirt race is the beginning of a Bank Holiday weekend of fun in the village, including a morris dancing festival and May garlands competition for children.

It is organised by Spajers, the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Junketing, which organises treats for village pensioners.

Last year, they took two coachloads of OAPs to Poole and gave out more than 400 gifts of £20 each.

Treasurer Jeff Dando said: "We rely on these signs to advertise the event, so we were very surprised at being asked to remove them.

"We understand that road signs must be controlled but in the past we have never had an issue. We were told that generally the authorities turned a blind eye to small village events like ours, which are patently not for commercial gain."

A county council spokesman said: "In the case of charity and community events, poster-sized signs can be put up 48 hours before the event, as long as they are taken down 12 hours afterwards, or as soon as practicable."