Piccadilly Circus Lights Switched Off: How London's Iconic Billboard Site Has Changed

Piccadilly Circus’s iconic electronic billboards were switched off on Monday for the longest period of time since World War Two.

The electrical advertisements were turned off at 8.30am to allow for renovation work to take place.

**People watch as the advertising screens at Piccadilly Circus, central London, after they were switched off in preparation for redevelopment.**

A temporary advertising banner will replace the lights until a new screen is unveiled in the autumn.

The lights were turned off in 1939 during World War Two blackouts and were not switched on again until 1949.

Apart from power cuts and special events, today is the first time the lights have been turned off since the end of the war.

Here’s a look back at London’s iconic Piccadilly Circus:

1919

Other

1930

Barratts/S&G and Barratts

'Old Polly' a flower seller and familiar face at Piccadilly Circus

1933

Len Putnam/AP

General view of Piccadilly Circus, London, England on September 1933.

1937

Traffic makes its way around Piccadilly Circus in London on October 1937.

1940

PA/PA Archive

Passers-by peer into a bomb crater in the London thoroughfare caused during a Luftwaffe air raid.

1945

Handout . / Reuters

Canadian soldiers celebrate VE-Day at Piccadilly Circus, London, May 8,1945

1945

LESLIE PRIEST/AP

British civilians and Allied service men and women gather, as part of a huge crowd, along Piccadilly, near London's Piccadilly Circus, May 7, 1945, to celebrate Germany's total surrender.

1946

PA/PA Archive

Traffic in Piccadilly Circus.

1947

Barratts/S&G and Barratts

Piccadilly Circus.

1949

Barratts/S&G and Barratts

Electric signs light up Piccadilly Circus for the first time since the Second World War.

1949

PA/PA Wire

March 1949.

1953

AP/AP

Members of the Sri Lankan contingent march through Piccadilly Circus, London, during the processions following the coronation of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, June. 2, 1953.

1955

PA/PA Archive

Crowds in Piccadilly Circus wait for the results of the General Election.

1958

PA/PA Archive

Traffic on Piccadilly Circus.

1959

PA/PA Wire

January 1959.

1963

ALPHA GENERAL/S&G and Barratts

Piccadilly Circus blacked out to help during the power cuts.

1970

Eddie Worth/AP

This is Piccadilly Circus in London, shown March 5, 1970. The statue of Eros is boarded up for renovation.

1971

MD/AP

Piccadilly Circus in London, England in 1971.

1993

Harris/PA Wire

August 1993.

1998

Tony Harris/PA Archive

December 1998.

2003

Sean Dempsey/PA Archive

The England rugby team, which won the World Cup last month in Australia, are cheered on by thousands of fans as they ride on a procession of open-top buses through London's Piccadilly Circus. Later the team were travelling to receptions at Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

2003

Peter MacDiarmid / Reuters

Anti-war protestors march through Piccadilly Circus during a demonstration against a possible war on Iraq in London February 15, 2003.

2007

LEFTERIS PITARAKIS/AP

Backdropped by Piccadilly Circus, members of a motorcycle fan club ride in formation during the annual New Year's Day Parade in central London, Monday January 1, 2007.

2012