The number of special permissions councils have had to obtain from Whitehall civil servants for non-standard signs and markings has increased by more than one-third in just two years. The Department for Transport, responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed that it had issued 303 authorisations for traffic signs in 2005, up from 245 in 2004 and 177 in 2003. Approvals for non-illuminated traffic bollards – increasingly popular replacements for old-style bollards with electricity connections – were one reason for the rise, with 80 authorisations issued last year for installing the signs, compared with 31 in 2003. But there were also big hikes in authorisations for parking signs (up 17), pedestrian and other restricted zone signs (up 16), for variable message signs (up 10), and bus/no car or high-occupancy vehicle lanes (up seven). DfT officials now have more than one request for an authorisation to process every day, a trend which shows no sign of letting up, with 24 issued in January alone. Permissions have been issued for everything, from rising bollards, congestion charging and match day parking signs to direction signs for quiet lanes and greenways, information on bridleway crossings and red squirrel warning signs. Chris Nicklin, managing director of TMP, said the need for local authorities to obtain authorisations for the use of the Flecta bollard he invented was ‘the way the DfT polices their use’ and this had not impeded their introduction.