No fewer than ten glaring screens flash as you walk by, the latest slot games jumping out at you 24 hours a day.

A startingly bright yellow doorway illuminates the entrance, enticing customers in, while the word ‘casino’ is splattered in more than ten places within the space of a few feet.

Overkill, perhaps? Certainly not for bosses at Lynn’s Admiral Casino.

Common sense would suggest that such startling signs should not be allowed. It is hard to see a small family-run café, for instance, gaining permission to place eight gleaming screens in its windows.

As it happens, however, this controversial adult gaming centre complies with all rules and regulations. So how did it manage to do so?

THE CASINO

Admiral Casino opened in Lynn’s Vancouver Quarter back in November, and has been operating for 24 hours a day ever since.

The ten bright, flashing screens which advertise everything from new games to gambling advice are placed inside the premises, catching the eyes of passers-by.

The growing number of similar businesses has led to widespread concern, with two 24-hour Merkur Slots casinos placed elsewhere in the town – one mere metres away from the Admiral building.

West Norfolk borough councillors have agreed to clamp down on gambling companies after becoming “dismayed” at the number of slot machine sites opening – but this decision came too late to have any impact on the Admiral opening.

WHAT ARE THE PLANNING LAWS?

There are a number of things the borough council’s planning department had to consider when combing through applications for the bright signs.

Most adverts or signs do not require specific consent from a local planning authority, subject to certain limitations regarding positions, overall sizes, letter and logo sizes.

If consent is needed, the council can only consider two things – amenity and public safety.

In practice, ‘amenity’ means the effect upon visual and aural amenity in the immediate neighbourhood of the advertisement where passers-by or people living there will be aware of the signs.

So in assessing this, the council will always consider the local characteristics of the neighbourhood.

For example, if an advertisement will be displayed in a place where there are important scenic, historic, architectural or cultural feature – such as in a conservation area – the planning authority will consider whether it is in scale and in keeping with these features.

This might mean the council would refuse consent for a large poster-hoarding which would visually dominate a group of listed buildings.

However, where there are large buildings and main highways – such as in an industrial or commercial area of a major city – the authority may grant consent for large advertisements which would not adversely affect visual amenity.

Likewise, any noise the advertisement makes will be taken into account. Of course, the Admiral signs make none.

Planning laws do not cover the content of an advertisement, nor whether it would offend public decency or moral values. These factors are controlled by a voluntary ‘code of conduct’ supervised by the Advertising Standards Authority.

‘Public safety’, meanwhile, means the considerations which are relevant to the safe use and operation of any form of traffic or transport – including the safety of pedestrians.

So for this purpose, the council must assess the likely effects of an advertisement in relation to matters like the behaviour of drivers, possible confusion with any traffic sign or signal, or possible interference with a navigational light or aerial beacon.

However, the authority will assume that all advertisements are reasonably intended to attract people’s attention, and would not automatically be regarded as a distraction.

What matters is whether an advertisement will be so distracting or so confusing that it creates a hazard for, or endangers, people who are taking reasonable care for their own and others’ safety.

WHAT THIS MEANT FOR ADMIRAL CASINO

There are 44 conservation areas in West Norfolk. They range from large areas covering the older parts of central Lynn to smaller ones at Burnham Overy Mills.

Admiral Casino does not lie within one of these zones, meaning it is not subject to certain rules it would be otherwise.

On conservation areas, the borough council website states: “It will need to fit in with the character of the area, and we will give special attention to this.

“We’ll also give the same considerations to more minor proposals, such as extensions. These can spoil the appearance of a conservation area unless carefully handled.”

However, the casino does not need to fit in with the character of the area, meaning the bright yellow lights are not an issue.

When the plans were first submitted, the Lynn Civic Society argued the signs would “detract from ‘active’ shop frontages, fundamentally altering the character of shopping streets and should be resisted”.

However, the proposals were all approved – with a few caveats.

One application saw 11 advertisement signs approved, but one refused because it was “poorly sited and designed”.

A second application also resulted in a split decision – 11 signs were approved, but a whopping 21 additional advertisements were turned down because they would have resulted in “unacceptable clutter”.

This means that the bombardment of signs currently on show at the Admiral Casino is nothing compared to what the business wanted to put in place.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

In short, despite many people pointing out how out of character the casino appears to be with the surrounding area, it does comply with all rules and regulations.

Cllr Deborah Heneghan, who represents the St Margarets with St Nicholas ward on the borough council, said: “I am personally not keen on the signage and feel that it rather dominates the area.

“However, I understand it has planning permission and is compliant. Other areas such as shops on Tower Street are in a conservation area and have to comply with stricter guidelines around signage

“I am disappointed to see another adult gaming centre opening in the town centre. I am pleased that the Government is introducing legislation that will give local councils more power to decide what opens on our high streets through the use of cumulative impact assessments and put power back in the hands of local leaders when deciding applications.”

More troubling, perhaps, is the fact that Admiral Casino appears to be unreachable.

The Lynn News approached the company numerous times for comment on the signs and concerns that the venue preys on already-vulnerable people. It has failed to respond on each occasion.

In fact, it appears that in order to make any contact with Admiral Casino and Luxury Leisure, which operates the site, one needs to create a gambling account.

Doesn’t that say an awful lot?