ADVERTISING board companies along the Golden Mile are preparing for a battle of the bottles, after Hounslow Council gave the green light for the historic Lucozade building to be pulled down and converted into a new headquarters for car firm Audi.

The deal sparked outrage from some campaigners for its failure to guarantee a home for the landmark flashing bottle which has been refreshing the lost energy of commuters with its inimicable art deco style since the early 1950s.

But while some attacked Hounslow's planners as having a lack of sparkle, the Times can reveal that rival advertising companies are turning on the gas in a bid to build their own replacements to the landmark.

JC Decaux, who are based opposite Glaxo, are understood to be in negotiations with the pharmaceutical giant, for building a replica sign at an undisclosed location near to the bottle's original site - possibly by Casualty Plus.

The negotiations come as an apparent snub to rival advertising board company, Van Wagner, who had offered to rebuild the sign on the Phoenix Trading Estate - which is next to its current location. So eager had the company been to do this, they had offered their services for free, in return for the use of the other side of the replacement sign.

This week, Phil Koscien of Van Wagner, said that there had been a flat response to their offer, but revealed that if snubbed, the company would consider building its own rival flashing neon bottle on the site.

"Everyone's being really stuffy about this sign - wanting to stick it in a museum. We're offering a site for free, but nobody seems to be latching onto our offer. It's not on the table forever."

He said that were Van Wagner unsuccessful in their bid for the lucozade sign, they would consider marketing the idea of a similar sign to another beverage producer such as Coca-cola or Carlsberg, which would calm the public's desire for flashing bulbs.

"People like the flashing lights - we could build another similar sign that would be just as much a landmark.

"The time and temperature would be relatively simple - it's only the flashing bulbs that would be a challenge. Even those could be recreated fairly successfully though."

Glaxo had initially seemed reluctant to keep the old sign at all, and favoured rebranding the image for a new sign at their newer world wide headquarters on the Great West Road.

"However, this bid became bogged down in the planning process when the plans were turned down late last year by the council, after concerns were raised about its visual impact on the park opposite."