County Hall is to concede defeat in a long-running row over lucrative advertising signs on roundabouts.

Leicestershire County Council has made about £65,000 a year from signs it put up in 2006 at 48 junctions, despite not having planning permission.

Now it is preparing to remove a number of the signs – which advertise local businesses – after planning officers at Blaby District Council refused retrospective planning permission for them at seven roundabouts on the grounds they distracted drivers.

On Thursday, members of Charnwood Borough Council's planning committee are expected to turn down 15 out of 16 similar applications if they follow the advice of their officers.

A number of the signs in Loughborough have already been taken down.

The signs have always been unpopular with the Campaign to Protect Rural England, which describe them as unnecessary roadside clutter, and driving organisations such as the RAC, which deems them a hazard.

County Hall's cabinet transport spokeswoman Councillor Lesley Pendleton said at the time the signs were erected that planning permission was not needed.

However, a change in adverting law in 2008 meant applications were subsequently required.

Signs at two roundabouts in Melton were approved but other district authorities raised objections on safety grounds.

Mrs Pendleton said: "The legislation says we need planning permission and some councils will not give it, so the signs will have to come down.

"We have to stick to the rules.

"Our professional highways officers do not believe they are a risk but some districts don't agree.

"We are in a period where our budgets are so tight and we found a way to generate cash to save expense to the taxpayer. The advertising pays for the roundabouts to be well maintained and that cost will now fall on the taxpayer."

A Blaby District Council spokesman said: "We have refused all the county council's applications and we are in negotiations with them about having the signs removed.

"Enforcement action is a last resort."

Mrs Pendleton said she hoped the county council would be able to see out deals with firms who paid in advance for advertising.

Charnwood CPRE chairman Joyce Noon said: "They are roadside clutter which is completely unnecessary. We hope the signs in Charnwood are refused permission and removed at the earliest time."

John Catt, of the Loughborough and District Cycle Users Campaign, was relieved, saying: "The point of an advert can only be to get someone to look at it. If drivers do that they are not looking where the should be – at the road."