'GARISH' SIGNS TONED DOWN BUT NOT ENOUGH, SAY PROTESTERS.

A LEADING supermarket chain is facing continued opposition to its efforts to tone down the "garish"

appearance of a petrol station which it built in a historic Northumberland market town.

Town councillors, the local civic society and dozens of neighbours reacted with horror when the new Morrisons filling station and car wash opened in Morpeth earlier this year.

They claimed its canary-yellow fascia, large lettering and illuminated price signs with fluorescent green lighting were totally out of keeping with the town and not in line with what had originally been proposed. Last month Castle Morpeth councillors unanimously rejected a retrospective planning application for the signs and advertising, and told the company to come back with something more appropriate for a conservation market town.

Now Morrisons has submitted revised proposals which seek to lessen the visual impact of the facility in Dark Lane, just off the town centre.

But they have failed to win approval from Morpeth Town Council, Morpeth Civic Society or a number of local residents, all of whom claim the changes don't go far enough. Morrisons has proposed replacing most of the bright yellow fascia with silver grey and making changes to some of the illuminated signage to tone down its visual impact.

Next week Castle Morpeth's development services committee will be recommended by planning officers to grant approval for the revised scheme.

But the town council still objects to the use of yellow signs and green digital numbers.

The civic society says the change to the colour scheme is a great improvement, but claims a 5.3m-high green and yellow totem-pole sign on the roadside remains out of keeping with the locality. Six residents have also objected to the "excessively bright and garish" green numerals on the totem sign.

A report to Tuesday's committee meeting says: "It is considered that the amendments made to the illuminated signs, and the colour of the fascia, are now acceptable."

Last month borough councillors threw out the previous application after seeing photographs of other Morrisons filling stations in towns such as Fort William in Scotland, which are nowhere near as visually intrusive.

CAPTION(S):

BRIGHT COLOURS The Morrisons petrol filling station in Morpeth, which protesters say is not in keeping with a conservation market town.