Paphos municipality has launched a war on ugly billboard advertising by ridding the town of all illegal signs and setting new guidelines for future advertisers, according to a local councillor.

The ‘face’ of the town has changed dramatically, most obviously in the last few days, when a number of large hoardings have been removed from the top of building and walls.

Paphos councillor Polys Polydorou said that the municipality is putting the town in order, ahead of Paphos’ stint as the European capital of culture in 2017.

“I wouldn’t describe these actions as the municipality becoming stricter, but we are trying to put things in order since being awarded Pafos 2017,” he said.

An ‘ad hoc’ committee consisting of the Paphos mayor, Phedonas Phedonos, and two municipal employees were responsible for ridding the town of illegal signs and hoardings.

“We are going to issue guidelines for businessmen wishing to put signs up in the future, and these are currently being prepared by one of the municipality staff, who is in charge of this project,” he said.

These will be uploaded to the Paphos municipality site in the next two weeks, he added.

“Any businesses that are interested in signage with all of the relevant permits will be able to see what is needed and what is and isn’t possible,” he said.

The councillor said that he doesn’t know actual figures of the number of signs which have been removed from the town so far, but said that the staff members responsible have been kept busy all day long.

Signs which are removed are then taken to the municipality’s warehouse where owners can come and retrieve them.

There are now a number of places in the town where all signs will be forbidden, including archaeological sites.

“There will be some areas where it is inappropriate for business activity, but this will all be fully explained on the section on our website,” he said.

As part of the wider aim of getting Paphos into shape for 2107, a number of other projects are currently underway in the town. This includes the regeneration of the old town which has long been a priority for local businesses and other organisations.