BLACKPOOL Council took the fizz out of Fanta when it rejected the pop giant's bid to put its flashing logo up the side of Blackpool Tower. Though Pepsi Cola set the precedent with its illuminated sign which has adorned the Tower for the past three years, Blackpool planning committee decided the Fanta lights would be too much.

The company wanted a letter-filling feature, strobe lights and floodlights, with all the white bulbs changed to orange, to be operated not just in the Illuminations, but over Christmas.

Planning vice chairman Councillor Norman Hardy said: "We decided the sign would have been too obtrusive when unlit.

"The Pepsi sign was only partially visible in daylight. But the Fanta sign, because of its filled-in letters, would be too visible during the day and out of season - and bearing in mind that the Tower is a Grade One listed building, that's the reason we refused it."

Fanta is a part of the Coca Cola empire, which already had planning permission passed in June for a Coke sign on the Tower.

The company could now either appeal against the decision, revert to its original plan for a Coke sign, or change the Fanta proposal in time for the autumn Illuminations.

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