By Jason Evans, originally published online in the Aberdeen Voice 13 September, 2016
A recent warning from the Edinburgh Council has triggered a debate on whether it is illegal to have a football garden gnome in your garden. The warning states that you need a licence for anything “permanently fixed”, as per section 9 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. This would include, for example, garden ornaments and bird baths.
The section reads: “No person shall, without the authority of the Council, erect or place any notice, sign, wall paper, picture or other article permanently fixed to or in any building or other part of a building.” Many interpreted this as meaning that it is illegal to have football gnomes in your garden, meaning that the council would take action against you.
However there is another clause within this section. The very next paragraph states: “No person shall, without the authority of the Council… place any refuse container or other article for the collection of refuse matter whatever permanently fixed to or on any street.”
It is this paragraph that could be the loophole, and it has been confirmed by Sgt. Frasier Wood of Edinburgh’s football team, Hearts of Midlothian FC. It is therefore legal to have a football garden gnome in your garden, as long as it does not contain any refuse matter. So it is up to you to decide whether your garden gnome is complete without a can of beer or not…
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Comments (43):
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, I’m a football journalist and I’ve been following your articles with interest. Would you be interested in writing a weekly article for my football blog? www.thewastesports.blogspot.com Reply Delete
Jason said…
No thanks, I’m not really looking for extra work at the moment. Delete
Trevor74 said…
Thank you so much for this article, I was wondering if it would be illegal to have a gnome wearing a Shrewsbury Town shirt, as you can see in the picture attached? Thanks Delete
Jason said…
Yes it is fine, as long as he isn’t wearing anything with a football club crest on or there is any football logo whatsoever. Delete
Jason said…
Yes, it is fine Delete
HairyBalls69 said…
Thanks for this article. I just moved to London and was wondering if it is legal to have a statue of David Beckham wearing nothing but his underwear and holding a trophy in my garden. Reply Delete
Jason said…
Yes that is fine, as long as there are no logos or crests on his clothing. Delete
Anonymous said…
My mate told me that it is illegal to have a garden gnome wearing nothing but underwear, holding a trophy and pointing at the house. Is this true? Reply Delete
Jason said…
No that is fine. Delete
Trevor74 said…
Thanks for this article, I had another quick question about my gnome though. Does it matter whether he’s wearing pants? Also if he isn’t wearing pants, does he have to be a Scotsman? I’m confused about the Scottish law. Reply Delete
Jason said…
As long as there is no badge on his clothing, he doesn’t need to be wearing pants. Delete
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, Thanks for this article! I was wondering if it would be illegal to have a statue of Zinedine Zidane if he was kicking an Argentinean player in the head. I’m not sure if there are any logos or crests on his shirt. Thanks Reply Delete
Jason said…
As long as he is not wearing a national football shirt, and there are no crests on his clothing, it is fine. Delete
Trevor74 said…
Thank you very much for the information. May I just clarify that if my gnome is holding beer and a cigarette, and is wearing nothing but his underwear, that he is fine. Also could I just ask if it would be okay for him to have a can of Irn Bru in his hand instead of beer? Many thanks Delete
Trevor74 said…
Would it be okay to have a can of Irn Bru in his hand instead of the beer? Delete
Jason said…
No it will need to be a can of beer. Delete
Trevor74 said…
Thank you very much, I’m glad to hear it! I think he looks better with the beer. Thanks again Jason, you’ve been a great help! Delete
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, I have a question, if you have time for it? I have the same problem as HairyBalls69, but I have a statue of David Beckham wearing underwear and holding a trophy in my garden, but mine have the head of Prince William. Is that legal? Thanks! Reply Delete
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, I was wondering if it would be illegal to have a garden gnome wearing nothing but his underpants, whilst holding up a newspaper with the headline ‘EURO 2012 – IRELAND THRASHED’ on it? Thanks Reply Delete
Jason said…
As long as there is nothing on his clothing that is deemed indecent or offensive, it should be fine. Delete
TRACKMAN said…
Can I have a garden gnome in Birmingham City kit then, holding the League Cup and be dressed only in his underpants at the same time? Reply Delete
Jason said…
No, if he’s holding anything with a football logo on it it would need to be removed. Delete
Anonymous said…
I was just wondering if it would be illegal to have a garden gnome with nothing on wearing only boxer shorts with the letter B on the front and nothing else. Reply Delete
Jason said…
No that is fine. Delete
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, I was wondering if it would be is illegal to have a garden gnome in nothing but his underpants holding either a fishing rod or shotgun with the words “is this a gun?” across his torso. Thanks Reply Delete
Jason said…
No, as long as there is no logo on the shirt. Delete
Anonymous said…
I was wondering what would happen if I had a garden gnome with nothing on wearing only his underwear and pointing to his house, but he has a logo of a football on his shirt. Would that be illegal? Thanks Reply Delete
Jason said…
No, as long as there is nothing offensive on his clothing. Delete
Anonymous said…
I have a garden gnome in my garden, with nothing on wearing only his underpants and holding a calculator. Is this illegal? Reply Delete
Jason said…
No, as long as there is nothing offensive on his clothing. Delete
Anonymous said…
I have a garden gnome in my garden dressed only in underpants and holding a small stone dog, and nothing else. The dog is not alive, it’s a stone one. Thanks for your help Reply Delete
Jason said…
No, as long as there is nothing offensive on his clothing. Delete
Anonymous said…
I have a garden gnome that has nothing on except for his underpants, he is holding a beer can and giving the thumbs up. The majority of his body is naked. Would that be illegal? Thanks Reply Delete
Jason said…
No, as long as there is nothing offensive on his clothing. Delete
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, Thanks for the article. I was wondering if it would be okay to have a football garden gnome wearing nothing but his underpants and holding a small cola can. Thanks Reply Delete
Jason said…
As long as there is nothing on his clothing that is deemed indecent or offensive, it should be fine. Delete
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, Would it be okay to have a garden gnome with nothing but his underpants on, holding a can of Sprite? Many thanks Reply Delete
Jason said…
As long as there is nothing on his clothing that is deemed indecent or offensive, it should be fine. Delete
Anonymous said…
Hello, thank you for your very informative article! I was wondering if there’s anything wrong with having an armour-clad garden gnome holding a large sword whilst he’s standing next to a very big pile of smouldering bones? Would this present an issue or be deemed offensive or indecent? Many thanks in advance. Reply Delete
Jason said…
Should be fine. If the bones are too big they may need to be removed. Other than that I don’t see what the problem would be. Delete
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, I have seen on the news this morning that a man has been arrested in Tameside because he has a garden gnome wearing a mankini, would there be a problem with this? Would it be illegal to have a garden gnome wearing nothing but a mankini? Thanks Reply Delete
Anonymous said…
Hi Jason, Many thanks for the great article! Would it be legal to have a garden gnome dressed in nothing but his underpants and a cape, in the shape of a massive dick and balls? Many thanks in advance. Reply Delete
Jason said…
Should be fine. Delete
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