THE massive advertising mural that anybody who steps out of Camden Town tube station has no choice but to gawp at and wonder how the fudge did they get permission to put that up has changed. No longer an unmissable ad for iPhones, the sheets covering the building at the foot of Parkway now urges us to buy Italian lager. This week, I saw a tourist take a photo of a friend in front of it. Like it was an iconic sight, like they were in Piccadilly Circus.

By allowing such a huge poster – go there, see it, it’s big and lights up at night, outshining the street’s Christmas lights – Camden Council’s planners set an interesting precedent. Can property owners wrap other buildings around Camden High Street with massive hoardings? With millions passing through the area, it’s a potential marketing goldmine when it comes to selling hip things to hip music types. People working to make Camden Town clutter free and determined to give the place a crisper, fresher feel might think differently.