Advertising hoardings once branded one of the worst eyesores in eastern England have again stirred up controversy.

The hoardings, on the A12 embankment at Witham, have dominated the skyline for 16 years and have been a major source of income for Braintree Council - which nets around £43,000 each year from advertisers.

Now consent for the licence, which allows the council to generate income from the hoardings, is up for renewal next month.

But Lord Marlesford , vice-president of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), has called for the Government to take action.

He slammed the powers which allowed Braintree Council to grant itself planning permission for the hoardings as "improper".

"It is outrageous Braintree Council should be abusing power to give planning consent to themselves to put up advertising hoardings for the financial benefit of the council. I am strongly against this, and shall campaign to resist it."

But head of planning for Braintree Council, Peter Crofts, said: "It is the responsibility and obligation of local authorities to bring in income where appropriate, and this income is obviously ploughed back into the provision and improvement of public services."

Lord Marlesford said it was long-standing public policy that advertising hoardings - which he describes as a complete eyesore - should not be put up along trunk roads in rural areas.

"Since 1920 we have campaigned to prevent this sort of degradation of the countryside, and I can't think of any other trunk road in Britain that has hoardings like this."

Mr Crofts disagreed: "The council does not hold the long-standing view of the CPRE that the signs are detrimental to the countryside.

"This is not a rural area, the hoardings are on land adjacent to an industrial estate, and in our view the site is capable of having some of these signs on it."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.