The Barbed Wire Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 32) was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It provided that where

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

was placed adjoining a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

in such a manner as to which pose a danger to people or animals using the highway, then the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

was empowered to demand its removal; if the owner of the wire failed to remove it, they could apply for a court order, and if this failed they were empowered to remove it themselves and charge any expenses to the owner. The Act has since been repealed by various legislation, predominantly by the

Highways Act 1959 A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

.''Chronological table of the statutes''; HMSO, London. 1993. And most recently, by Section 164 of the Highways Act 1980.

References

{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1893 Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament