KFC is seeking permission to have 22 signs put up at its Wellington restaurant.

The plans came to light after rumours the fried chicken chain had abandoned its move to the town were quashed, to the delight of many residents.

In proposals submitted to Somerset Council, KFC wants to erect menu screens, facia signs and an illuminated LED KFC bucket bearing the face of Colonel Sanders mounted on a four metre tall steel pole.

The proposals could spark the ire of town councillors, who recently complained of illuminated signs in the business park, which they joked ‘could be seen from Mars.’

The comments came after the council considered whether to give the thumbs up to a seven metre illuminated sign at the Chelston service station. The town’s mayor, Cllr Marcus Barr, said the illuminated signs had ‘gone beyond a joke.’

In a prescient comment, Cllr Keith Wheatley remarked at the time that KFC would soon want a ‘20ft statue of Colonel Sanders.’

However, at just four metres tall, the size of the signs proposed by KFC are dwarfed by some of its neighbours, which have drawn comparisons with the bright lights of Nashville Tennessee.

The town council previously recommended an illuminated sign at the business park’s Costa Coffee be rejected - advice the former Taunton Deane District Council heeded, blocking the coffee shop from advertising its presence to passing motorists.

There remains no set opening date for the town’s KFC, which has already missed its ‘early 2024’ target.