Councillors in Great Yarmouth have voted in favour of plans to illuminate iconic buildings across the borough at night.

The council had applied to its own planning department for permission to light up the town’s Arc Cinema, St George’s Theatre, Town Hall, Minster Church of St Nicholas and Tolhouse Gaol, as well as Gorleston’s Pavilion Theatre.

All applications were approved at a Wednesday planning meeting - though conditions were laid down by council officers about the need for the lights not to move or change colour or intensity, so as not to distract drivers.

Care will also be taken to ensure any nesting bats are not disturbed by the lights. If any are discovered, people have a duty under criminal law to not disturb protected species.

Another condition stated that the lights will only be lit until midnight.

The applications were part of the larger 'See Great Yarmouth in a Different Light' project, paid for by the government's Towns Fund, which began last winter and included festive lighting displays across the town centre and seafront, Hemsby's Beach Road and Gorleston High Street and seafront.