Manchester electronic ad boards each use electricity of three households

Exclusive: FoI request shows screens that earn council rent of 2.4m a year consume more than 11,000kWh annually

Hi-tech advertising screens that have been criticised for blocking pavements in Manchester each use the same amount of electricity as three households, the Guardian has learned.

The council-branded screens, which became a pedestrian bugbear when they were covered with mysterious grey boxes during their installation, earn the local authority 2.4m a year in rent from the advertising firm JCDecaux, plus 2.8% of the revenue from each advert.