Plans for a jumbo digital advertising board above the entrance to a city mall have been refused. 

Open Media had been hoping to place the 23-foot board above the St Stephens Street entrance to Chantry Place. 

Norwich Evening News: The plans received backlash from local campaignersThe plans received backlash from local campaigners (Image: Norwich City Council)

The proposals received fierce backlash from campaigners, with concerns raised over the "impossible-to-ignore" size of the screen.

Alongside measuring up to two African elephants - which stand at 12ft on average - the display would have dwarfed a giraffe (18ft) and a standard double-decker bus (14ft).

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Planning officers at Norwich City Council rejected the application on the basis that the screen would have been "overly dominant, incongruous and detrimental to the quality and character of the entrance into Chantry Place, wider street scene and conservation area".

Norwich Evening News: A similar board currently exists at the Chantry Road entrance to the shopping centreA similar board currently exists at the Chantry Road entrance to the shopping centre (Image: Newsquest)

"The illumination and changing images would make the presence of the proposed digital display screen perceptible over a wide area of St Stephens Street, even where the screen is not directly visible within the street scene and even more so at night," they added. 

A similar board currently exists at the Chantry Road entrance to the shopping centre.