Posted By Stuart Nagle Francis Does this 'performer' have a licence issued by the Local Authority? If he has this may be used to stipulate what he can and cannot do !! If not, he can be removed and if necessary the police employed re him causing an obstruction/H&S issue in respect of those legally passing and re-passing along the highway, i.e. his obstuction is neither natural or legal. As far as the safety isssues are concerned, it would appear that this 'act' would be treated the same/similar to circus performances - see the local environmental health and legal depts of the local council. PS If you are the local council/environmental health or legal dept, why are you asking... you should know !! Stuart Nagle

Posted By Diane Warne By the way, on the question about meths - it just evaporates, doesn't leave any residue.

Posted By Stuart Nagle Chris. meths will not unduly affect the bitumen binders in either Hot rolled asphalt, Tar Macadam or Bitumen Macadam surfaces. The agent used to break down these materials in testing is Trichloryethelene (if I remember my highways materials and materials testing C&G correctly). The meths on the surface would, in the quantities discussed, i.e. spillage from a litre bottle (perhaps) not damge the surface and would evaporate reasonably quickly, as Diane stated. Weather conditions obviously would affect this. Fire risks are obvious, from disgraded ciggies etc,. I suppose one could consider an area being 'set aside' for performers, via a consent licence from the Local authority, provided of course they are prepared to accept the costs of providing such an area and the risks associated with it's provision. Stuart Nagle