Plans to install an illuminated billboard in front of scaffolding at a building site have been slammed as a "Tokyoesque" barrage of advertising.

An application has been submitted to Camden Council for an 8m high by 20m wide advertising hoarding covering scaffolding at 156 West End Lane in West Hampstead.

The board would be lit by seven floodlights at night, something objectors claim would create “light pollution”, potentially distracting drivers and increasing the risk of an accident.

The advertising would remain in place until work to build more than 170 new homes at the site is finished - currently scheduled for February 26 next year.  

But one objector said that given previous delays to construction, people are fearful the board will “dominate” the area for longer.

Another said: “If this proposal is passed it will set a precedent for all time and open the doors to a Tokyo-esque illuminated, distracting, inescapable and hounding barrage of unwanted and unneeded advertising.”

They added that the advertising board was merely “an excuse for making money”.

Planning documents submitted on behalf of applicant Astir Living Limited claim the board will shield the public from "unsightly" works and will not distract road users.

Comments on the application (2023/2481/A) can be made until the end of today (August 8) on Camden Council’s planning portal.

Astir Living Limited has been contacted for comment about objections to the plans.