ROME CUTS INTRUSIVE BILLBOARDS DOWN TO SIZE

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Rome Cuts Intrusive Billboards Down to Size

ROME (Reuters) - For years, billboards with buxom brunettes or two-story Martini bottles have vied for space in Rome's medieval piazzas. But city officials this week vowed to rein in rampant advertising by the end of the year.

Armed with new regulations and a series of commercial accords, Rome has torn down dozens of illegal billboards and ordered advertisers to limit the size and number of ads in the historic heart of the city by January 1.

"People will be able to see the monuments in their context again without an invasion of publicity," Grazia Ardito, spokeswoman for Rome's commerce department, said after the city reached a final agreement with companies this week.

For advertisers, nothing is sacred in Rome, where billboards have towered over the baroque Trevi fountain and even graced buildings at the Vatican.

Two giant ads for Canon cameras that greet pilgrims arriving at St. Peter's Square were covered up during the recent beatification of Mother Teresa.

Despite laws that only allow advertisers to install billboards on scaffolded buildings undergoing restoration, the ads often last months or years longer than the works -- and in some cases there hasn't been any restoration at all.

City officials were slow to react since the advertising revenues helped fund much-needed restorations, but they admit things went too far.

"The city was buried under billboards," Ardito said. "We wanted to impose some control without completely blocking advertising and the revenues it generates."

Under the new regulations that have to be met by January 1, no more than one billboard at a time can hang in a historic piazza. The ads can only cover up to 25 percent of a building's facade and have to come down after one year.

Advertisers agreed to reduce the billboards even further at key sites to cover only 15 percent of a facade.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow in a sultry black dress still reigns over the oval-shaped Piazza Navona in an ad for Martini vermouth. But officials have just torn down a billboard next door because the landlord wasn't actually doing any restoration under the scaffolding.

"In London, we have lots of billboards but not hanging in our historic squares. It definitely stands out," said Julie Brewer, an English student visiting the piazza.

A billboard featuring an enormous slam-dunking basketball player has also been removed from the chic Spanish Steps.

Advertisers agreed to replace it with something more discreet before Pope John Paul and dozens of TV cameras swoop on the piazza for a religious ceremony next week.