Clapham Common Tube station to be taken over by cat pictures Published duration 12 August 2016

image copyright CATS image caption The adverts will run from the "cat flaps" (turnstiles), down the escalators and leading up to the platform

A London Underground station is set to be taken over by cats - with all advertisements replaced with pictures of the animals.

Almost 700 people helped the Citizens Advertising Takeover Service (Cats) raise £23,000 to buy the advertising space at Clapham Common station.

The cats will appear on advertising boards for two weeks from 12 September.

The aim is to provide a "relaxing, fun and light-hearted" space free from commercial adverts, Cats said.

James Turner, from the collective, said: "It's really caught people's imagination - everyone loves cats.

"The idea of a relaxing and peaceful space just with pictures of cats is appealing. People are interested because there's no brand, no commercial reason for doing it."

'What the internet loves'

The images will be around the turnstiles (which the collective are calling cat flaps), down the escalators and leading up to the platform. The aim is that, wherever people look, there will be cats.

The adverts will be word-free apart from one which will highlight the work of Battersea Cats and Dogs Home and Cat Protection charities.

The idea emerged from a 200-strong group called Glimpse, which wanted to express how "friends and experiences are more valuable than stuff you can buy" said Mr Turner.

Initially they were going to use pictures of forests and the ocean.

"But then we thought about grabbing people's attention and should use the one thing that the internet loves and cats were the obvious answer," he added.

He said he loved the idea as it was "very subversive, as there's nothing anyone can do about it".