A FIERCE dispute is currently raging between a heritage group and an oat drink company.

The Brighton Society claim Oatly have unlawfully unfurled a huge advert on the front of St Peter's Church in Brighton.

The group, which seeks to "promote high standards of planning, architecture and design" in the city, claims planning permission is needed to display the advert.

This follows the brand having painted a large mural on a wall at the corner of Church Street and Gardner Street in November last year.

Brighton and Hove City Council demanded the Church Street advert was removed as no permission had been given.

Addressing the St Peter's Church advert, a spokesman for the Brighton Society said: "We understand no permissions were given to Global Street Art Agency, Oatly's media provider.

"Oatly's Church Street ad was unauthorised and now this ad is.

"For an ethical company they seem to acting unethically in the public realm."

But Oatly responded denying any wrongdoing.

A spokesman said: "We’ve often used construction sites with scaffolding as ad spaces since we believe this to be both convenient and non-intrusive (as the building more or less would be covered either way).

"There are ongoing conversations between the church and the council and it’s common practice to allow posting during this time.

"If not, councils may request banners to be removed and there’s been no such request."

Brighton and Hove City Council stated that no rules or regulations had been breached in the display of the advert.

A spokesman said: "Consent to display advertisements on the site expired last year.

"However, any advertisement displayed there still benefits from deemed consent under advert regulations.

"We are currently dealing with a new application to renew the temporary consent."