HIGHWAYS ACT 1980 : SECTION 139 (ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATIONS ACT 1984 : SECTION 65)
1. Each skip shall be deposited on either the carriageway, the verge or the footway and shall be positioned so that its longer sides are parallel to the edge of the carriageway and as near to the edge of the carriageway as is reasonably practicable and so that it does not impede the surface water drainage of the highway nor obstruct access to any manhole or the apparatus of any statutory undertaker or Lancashire County Council.
2. Where more than one skip is on the highway at any one time, the skips shall be positioned as closely as possible to each other, but not so close as to obstruct access to any premises unless the consent of the occupier of those premises has been obtained.
3. Each skip shall not exceed 5m in length by 2m in width.
4. Each skip shall bear the owner's name and their telephone number/address should also be clearly marked.
5. Each skip or group of skips shall, while on the highway, be marked (guarded) and lit in accordance with the following requirements:
(a) The ends of each skip (that is to say, the sides of the skip facing traffic in both directions when the skip is positioned as described above) shall be painted yellow and there shall be attached vertically along the outside edge of each end so as to be visible to traffic a strip of material the composition of which complies with the Builders Skips (Markings) Regulations 1984 (SI 1984 No 1993) in having broad red fluorescent and yellow reflecting diagonal stripes. The painting and the strip of material shall at all times be kept clean.
(b) Each skip shall be guarded by at least four traffic cones placed on the carriageway in an oblique line on the approach side of the skip. (Where two or more skips are deposited in a row, so that the distance between adjacent skips does not exceed 2m, the row shall be guarded as if it were one skip.)
(c) At night (that is to say, between half an hour before sunset and half an hour after sunrise):-
- For a single skip or a row of skips on the verge or on the carriageway where cones are not required – a lamp shall be securely fixed to each corner of the skip or end corners of the row of skips where two or more skips are deposited in a row and the distance between adjacent skips does not exceed 2m.
- For a single skip or a row of skips on the carriageway where cones are required – a lamp shall be securely fixed to each corner of the skip or end corners of the row of skips where two or more skips are deposited in a row and the distance between adjacent skips does not exceed 2m, and shall also be placed between each cone and the next.
- Lamps shall comply with Traffic Regulations and General Directions.
6. Where permission is given for a skip or skips to be placed on the footway it or they shall, in addition to the other measures required herein, be surrounded by a continuous fence or barrier for the protection of users of the footway including visually impaired and mobility handicapped persons in accordance with the Regulations made by the Secretary of State.
7. No skip, when standing on the highway, shall contain any (inflammable) explosive, noxious or dangerous material or any material which is likely to putrefy or which otherwise is, or is likely to become, a nuisance to users of the highway.
8. No skip shall be used in such a way that any of its contents fall onto the highway, or that there is an escape of dust from the contents of the skip when standing on the highway.
9. Each skip shall be removed for emptying as soon as practicable, and in any case not later than two working days after it has been filled.
10. No skip shall remain on the highway after the period of the permission has expired.
11. All materials placed in each skip shall be properly disposed of and the highway where the skip or skips have been deposited shall be left in a clean and tidy condition on the expiration of the permission.
12. Skips in transit shall be sheeted over when necessary to prevent escape of dust or contents.
Legal Guidance
(a) Section 139(4) of the Highways Act 1980 requires the owner of a builder's skip which has been deposited on the highway to secure that the skip is properly lighted during the hours of darkness, that it is clearly and indelibly marked with the owner's name and with his telephone number or address and that the skip is removed as soon as practicable after it has been filled and that each of the conditions of the highway authority's permission is complied with. Conviction of an offence under this sub-section renders the owner liable to a fine not exceeding £1,000.
(b) Section 139(10) of the Highways Act 1980 provides that nothing in the section shall be taken as authorising the creation of a nuisance or of a danger to users of the highway or as imposing on a highway authority by whom a permission has been granted under the section any liability for any injury, damage or loss resulting from the presence on a highway of the skip to which the permission relates.
(c) Section 140 of the Highways Act 1980 empowers the highway authority or a police officer to require the removal or repositioning or to remove a builder's skip deposited on the highway, even though it was deposited in accordance with the highway authority's permission and after removal or repositioning to recover from the owner the cost of such removal or repositioning, and to dispose of a skip which is not collected by its owner. Failure to comply with a request to remove or reposition a skip under this section may result in a fine not exceeding £1,000.
(d) The Local Authorities (Transport Charges) Regulations 1998 made under Section 150 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 authorise local highway authorities to impose charges for dealing with specified matters in relation to certain highways and road traffic regulations. The deposition of skips on the highway is included in the Schedule to this Regulation.
(e) The issuing of a permit will require the skip operator to have a minimum public liability insurance policy of £5 million.