A GLARING orange neon shop sign which has been lighting up Hatfield Road in recent months will have to be removed after councillors ruled it is too bright.

The sign, which reads The Motorists Centre and Leisure Superstore and Cut Price Car Parts and Accessories, was erected in early December but has since courted objections from residents and councillors alike.

They claim the sign, which adorns Otraps Ltd on the former site of the NatWest Bank in Hatfield Road, is so "loud" it poses a hazard to passing drivers and that it is too bright for a residential area.

Now the company will have to take the sign down and replace it with something more subtle.

Stewart Wilyman, managing director of Otraps, explained perspex problems were the root of the problem. He said: "We had to use a different kind of perspex for the sign, so it was brighter than we originally anticipated.

"We have had complaints, so now we turn it off at 6.30pm each night."

But this concession was not enough to satisfy district councillors, who voted unanimously to order Otraps to remove the signt.

Councillor Sheila Burton said: "We have been trying hard during the last five years to reduce the number of lighted signs in St Albans." On a lighter note, she added: "This sign is so bright, I thought it was their contribution to the street's Christmas decorations."

And Mrs Burton was not the only councillor to attack the sign armed with the flashing blade of comedy.

Malachy Pakenham responded to the news that Hertfordshire County Council did not oppose the sign on the grounds of highway safety by joking: "This sign is so appaling it must be a hazard to aircraft not just road users."

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