ADVERTISMENTS will soon be seen on Thanet’s lamp posts as part of experimental scheme to bring in much needed cash for Kent County Council.

The council is teaming up with a company called Streetbroadcast Ltd for an experiment that could see many street lights in the area carrying adverts.

KCC hopes the scheme will help raise money to replace large numbers of sub-standard street lights, relieving the burden on council taxpayers.

Kent has around 110,000 lights right across the county. Each one costs around £900 and the authority spends some £3million each year replacing old ones.

Cllr Richard King, KCC’s cabinet member responsible for transport, said: “We want to pilot the idea in some areas and see whether the public likes it or not.

"It will mean some of our existing street lights will be replaced by new ones with advertising space built into them. The adverts will be high enough so they cannot be tampered with and to avoid distracting drivers.”

If the experiment was successful, it was likely to be extended to other parts of the county, he added.

“If it appears they are having a negative impact, we’ll give it a miss but if successful, we’ll extend it elsewhere.”

Under the scheme, the company would meet the costs of replacing existing lights with its own specially-constructed ones, capable of displaying illuminated poster adverts of up to five feet in size.

KCC’s estimated share of the advertising revenue could eventually be in the region of £840,000, according to council chiefs.

Over a 15-year contract, that could allow KCC to replace 10,000 street lights – effectively free of charge.

However, the Thanet experiment will start by trialling a much smaller number over three months to gauge public reaction. Just six of the street lights will initially be put up although others in around 46 locations in the area could soon follow if there is no opposition.