A supermarket has been told putting up more adverts next to a busy road on the edge of Broughty Ferry could cost someone their life.
The Co-operative Group wanted to put up an advertising board alongside the seven hoardings that are already in place by Panmurefield Village shopping centre, off the A92.
But a Scottish Government reporter has said an addition to the visual “clutter” could “endanger public safety”.
He said the signs were “visually intrusive” and detracted from the visual amenity of the area.
On behalf of the Scottish Government Planning Directorate, Padraic Thornton said drivers might cut other road users up and become distracted from negotiating the busy roundabout if permission for another sign was given to the Cooperative Group.
He said: “Drivers, on reading the sign and wishing to visit the food shop, might decide to circle the roundabout and return to the exit.
“Drivers on the left turning lane, exiting to Dundee, could cause a hazard in changing lanes or cutting across traffic on the outer lane, in order to return to the stop.
“This manoeuvre would, in my opinion, endanger public safety due to traffic hazard.
“The sign would also, in conjunction with the others in the row, have a potential adverse impact on public safety, due to driver distraction as the signs can be read only at the time when drivers need to concentrate on safely negotiating the roundabout.”
The supermarket had appealed an earlier decision by Dundee City Council to refuse permission to erect the sign, but the local authority’s decision has been upheld.
Mr Thornton also stated: “The existing signs, due to the assortment of shapes, sizes and colours, are visually intrusive and detract from the visual amenity of the area.
“The sign now proposed would add to the clutter of existing signs and further detract from the visual amenities of the area.”
It is not uncommon for advertising to be banned from lamp-posts and other items of street furniture.
Most Scottish councils do not allow political parties to put up posters during elections because of the distraction they can cause and because they are seen as parties’ effective “fly-posting”.