The impact that large LED advertising screen can have is a prime reason to install one in a prominent place, such as a town centre. But the very visibility of it can make it difficult to get permission to put it in place.

Just such a dispute has occurred in Watford, where media firm Space Outdoor has belatedly won the right to install a 48-sheet advertising board by the Telephone Exchange in the town centre, the Watford Observer reports.

They won an appeal after the original application to fit the sign was rejected by the council in December, after a council planning officer advised the sign would have a “harmful impact” and be “visually dominant” in a part of the town that has become more residential in recent years.

However, the government planning inspector has taken a different view, describing the current non-digital space the company plans to fill with the screen as “somewhat uninspiring” and concluding the sign would not look out of place in the location.

This means the space will now have easily-seen adverts that are updated frequently, providing prime advertising spaces aimed at local shoppers, consumers and office workers. It is located just off the A411 and is within walking distance of Watford High Street and Watford Junction Stations, as well as Watford Football Ground.

Councils keen to display their green credential may have rather less objections to town centre digital signage in the future if one new development takes off.

As AV Interactive reported recently, German firm Green City Solutions has developed a new kind of digital sign that contains air quality filters made of moss. This helps suck pollutants out of the air and reduce the Urban heat effect.

The firm installed the first sign in the Swiss city of Küsnacht in December last year and plans to establish over a hundred more in German cities over the course of 2022.