Litter wardens in Dublin are continuing to remove posters urging the public to vote for the Irish contestant in the Big Brothertelevision show.
The placards were posted on lamposts around the capital by family and friends of Dubliner Ray Shah. The supporters put up hundreds of posters with a text number Irish viewers could use to vote for him.
But Dublin City Council litter wardens began removing the posters yesterday after what it said were complaints from the general public.
A spokeswoman for the council told ireland.comthe people who put the posters up did not have permission to do so.
"We had taken down 200 by 7 p.m. yesterday evening and are continuing to take them down today," she said. The posters are considered litter unless the council has specifically granted permission for them.
Most of the posters were placed on lamposts in the city centre. The spokeswoman could not say how many complaints had been received from the public.
"We would not really see a lot of posters except at election time," she said. She said other posters, such as those pasted up advertising public protests, had usually been licensed by the council.
The spokeswoman said the council was investigating the matter with a view to taking a prosecution under the Litter Act but that it would be difficult to track down those who put up the posters. "There is only a text number on them," she said.
The number of "housemates" in the third British Big Brotherhas been whittled down from 12 to four over the 64-day television marathon and the final winner of the £70,000 sterling prize will be chosen by public vote tonight.
Scott, Ray, Steph and Cameron last night enjoyed an early Christmas dinner consisting of roast turkey, potatoes, peas, Brussels sprouts and carrots. A fifth contestant, Jon, remains in the house but is not up for eviction during the two live programmes tonight.
Cameron, a fish trader from the Orkneys, is favourite to take the prize.
Ray's friends and family will watch the eviction at a party his local pub in Artane tonight. Irish people can vote for Ray by texting VOTE RAY to 53004.