If any person places or maintains, on or near any way shown on a definitive map, or on a revised map prepared in definitive form, as a public path or F8restricted byway, a notice containing any false or misleading statement likely to deter the public from using the way, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F2level 1 on the standard scale.

The court before whom a person is convicted of an offence under the last foregoing subsection may, in addition to or in substitution for the imposition of a fine, order him to remove the notice in respect of which he is convicted within such period, not being less than four days, as may be specified in the order; and if he fails to comply with the order he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two pounds for each day on which the failure continues.

It shall be the duty of a highway authority to enforce the provisions of this section as respects any public path, F7restricted byway or byway open to all traffic, for which they are the highway authority; and no proceedings in respect of an offence under those provisions shall be brought except by the authority required by this subsection to enforce those provisions as respects the path or road in question F3or by the council of the district F4or, where they are not the highway authority, the council of the Welsh county or county borough in which the notice is placed or maintained.

In this section—

• “byway open to all traffic” has the same meaning as in Part III of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981;

• “restricted byway” has the same meaning as in Part II of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.