A GRADE II-listed high street shop in a building owned by Tesco is set to remove a window-filling ‘Grab & Grow’ advertising graphic of pizza, crisps and other foodstuffs, after town councillors and heritage supporters slammed it as "ugly" and "illegal".

The signage was installed without listed building consent and county planners refused to grant approval last year following complaints from the Monmouth Civic Society and others.

But now the Walsall-based owners of the One Stop Shop in Monmouth's Monnow Street, which also includes the post office, have been given permission to install a "slim updated vinyl graphic to open up visibility through to the internal shop", alongside other internal works.

Monmouth Town Council said the current unauthorised graphic damaged the character of the listed building, which dates back to the late 16th Century, and the town Conservation Area.

And Monmouth Civic Society, which first complained about a previous graphic of eggs in 2017, said: “We want to see shop windows with interesting displays of goods in our high street, not ugly advertising hoardings.”

Monmouthshire Council’s heritage officer said last year: “There is no record of permission for installation of a vinyl and so should be considered unauthorised development.

“Graphic window displays which cover the majority of a shop window are generally considered unacceptable on listed buildings or within a conservation area...

“It can turn shop fronts into oversized advertising hoarding... and detracts from the character of the area.”

A county planning report now giving the go ahead for the new 'slim updated vinyl graphic' said more unauthorised works in the building were uncovered when the business was told to take down the ‘Grab & Grow’ sign.

"The till area had at some point in the last decade or so been amended and an internal wall constructed behind the left hand display window," it said.

"This wall blocked the window and as a result the damaged internal advert could not be easily removed."

An unauthorised roller shutter, now broken, had also been installed, presumably before the wall was built.

"The case officer advised the agent and applicant all the works would need to be removed and the applications were withdrawn and informal negotiations undertaken between the agent and case officers in order to devise a plan," the report added.

Permission was given for the new clear signage, and for the wall and a new shutter to be set back from the window.