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The six advertising hoardings at the landmark Piccadilly Lights are to become one giant screen, which could be sold for £30 million a year.

London’s equivalent to New York’s Times Square launched more than a century ago. Since then it has become one of the world’s most exclusive advertising hoardings.

Now Land Securities, which has owned the Piccadilly Circus site since the Seventies, has won planning consent to replace the six existing screens with one huge state-of-the-art interactive screen, which analysts expect to attract the world’s biggest brands.

More than 70 million pedestrians walk by the Piccadilly Lights each year, with another 30 million driving past.

With each of the six screens worth more than £4 million a year, advertising analysts estimate the chance to dominate the site completely could be worth as much as £30 million.

The changing face of Piccadilly Circus - In pictures 25 show all The changing face of Piccadilly Circus - In pictures 1/25 1899: Horse-drawn traffic and passers-by outside The London Pavilion at Piccadilly Circus. The statue of Eros is on the left General Photographic Agency/Getty Images 2/25 A view of Piccadilly Circus in London, England. Circa 1900s Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images 3/25 April 1918: Omnibuses at Piccadilly Circus. The London Pavilion is in the background Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 4/25 Piccadilly Circus pictured In 1926 when the surrounding streets were being almost completely reconstructed. Picture Shows Swan And Edggar's Department Store New Building and the New County Fire Office Rex 5/25 1932: Lit up advertisements in Piccadilly Circus, London General Photographic Agency/Getty Images 6/25 1933, Two ladies sell flowers in Piccadilly Circus Popperfoto/Getty Images 7/25 circa 1935: Nightime and two men chat on the street corner with Piccadilly Circus in the background Hulton Archive/Getty Images 8/25 Piccadilly Circus at night on New Years Day 1937 Rex 9/25 Colour photograph of Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, London. Dated 1940 Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images 10/25 Piccadilly Circus with the boarded-up Statue Of Eros on VE Day, May 1945 bringing traffic to a standstill Rex 11/25 Photograph of London Piccadilly Circus by Chalmers Butterfield. Dated 1949 Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images 12/25 Heavy smog in Piccadilly Circus, London, 6th December 1952 Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 13/25 May 1953: A view of Piccadilly Circus, with decorations for the Coronation. The statue of Eros is enclosed in a birdcage structure for the celebrations Hulton Archive/Getty Images 14/25 circa 1955: An entrance to Piccadilly underground station at night. In the background are the neon advertising signs of Piccadilly Circus Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images 15/25 Piccadilly Circus at night in the 1950's Rex 16/25 1956: Traffic circling the statue of Eros on the central roundabout at Piccadilly Circus, London Harry Kerr/BIPs/Getty Images 17/25 Piccadilly Circus by night during the Black Out in 1959 Rex 18/25 People gather for a night on the town at Piccadilly Circus, London in 1969 Rex 19/25 Piccadilly Circus in 1971 Rex 20/25 Neon signs in Piccadilly Circus in 1972 Rex 21/25 Piccadilly Circus in 1983 Rex 22/25 Aerial view Of Piccadilly Circus in 1990 23/25 Traffic moves through Piccadilly Circus as the landmark advertising lights are turned off during the Capital 95.8 Light Out London Campaign on June 21, 2007 in London Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images 24/25 Traffic moves through Piccadilly Circus as the landmark advertising lights are turned back on after the Capital 95.8 Light Out London Campaign on June 21, 2007 in London Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images 25/25 Long exposure of pedestrians and traffic outside Piccadilly Circus Tube Station in 2014 Rex 1/25 1899: Horse-drawn traffic and passers-by outside The London Pavilion at Piccadilly Circus. The statue of Eros is on the left General Photographic Agency/Getty Images 2/25 A view of Piccadilly Circus in London, England. Circa 1900s Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images 3/25 April 1918: Omnibuses at Piccadilly Circus. The London Pavilion is in the background Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 4/25 Piccadilly Circus pictured In 1926 when the surrounding streets were being almost completely reconstructed. Picture Shows Swan And Edggar's Department Store New Building and the New County Fire Office Rex 5/25 1932: Lit up advertisements in Piccadilly Circus, London General Photographic Agency/Getty Images 6/25 1933, Two ladies sell flowers in Piccadilly Circus Popperfoto/Getty Images 7/25 circa 1935: Nightime and two men chat on the street corner with Piccadilly Circus in the background Hulton Archive/Getty Images 8/25 Piccadilly Circus at night on New Years Day 1937 Rex 9/25 Colour photograph of Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus, London. Dated 1940 Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images 10/25 Piccadilly Circus with the boarded-up Statue Of Eros on VE Day, May 1945 bringing traffic to a standstill Rex 11/25 Photograph of London Piccadilly Circus by Chalmers Butterfield. Dated 1949 Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images 12/25 Heavy smog in Piccadilly Circus, London, 6th December 1952 Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 13/25 May 1953: A view of Piccadilly Circus, with decorations for the Coronation. The statue of Eros is enclosed in a birdcage structure for the celebrations Hulton Archive/Getty Images 14/25 circa 1955: An entrance to Piccadilly underground station at night. In the background are the neon advertising signs of Piccadilly Circus Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images 15/25 Piccadilly Circus at night in the 1950's Rex 16/25 1956: Traffic circling the statue of Eros on the central roundabout at Piccadilly Circus, London Harry Kerr/BIPs/Getty Images 17/25 Piccadilly Circus by night during the Black Out in 1959 Rex 18/25 People gather for a night on the town at Piccadilly Circus, London in 1969 Rex 19/25 Piccadilly Circus in 1971 Rex 20/25 Neon signs in Piccadilly Circus in 1972 Rex 21/25 Piccadilly Circus in 1983 Rex 22/25 Aerial view Of Piccadilly Circus in 1990 23/25 Traffic moves through Piccadilly Circus as the landmark advertising lights are turned off during the Capital 95.8 Light Out London Campaign on June 21, 2007 in London Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images 24/25 Traffic moves through Piccadilly Circus as the landmark advertising lights are turned back on after the Capital 95.8 Light Out London Campaign on June 21, 2007 in London Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images 25/25 Long exposure of pedestrians and traffic outside Piccadilly Circus Tube Station in 2014 Rex

Lorna Tilbian, media analyst at Numis Securities, said: “A mega-size hoarding is worth much more than six hoardings. You can safely say this is the billboard equivalent of the Super Bowl — prime ad space in the busiest bit of the world’s leading global city.”

Land Securities said: “We are working with experts in new technologies and out-of-home marketing to completely reposition this iconic site, giving advertisers innovative ways to interact with the two million weekly passers-by.”

But analysts said the move to one big screen could take time, as existing clients such as Coca Cola — which has advertised there since 1955 — could have long-term leases.

Water company Perrier was the first electrical advert on the site, in 1908. Since then the lights have shone almost continuously, turned off only for the Second World War, for the funerals of Sir Winston Churchill and Princess Diana and more recently to mark Earth Hour for the WWF.

In 2002, Yoko Ono paid more than £100,000 for her husband John Lennon’s quote “Imagine all the people living life in peace” to be illuminated for three months.