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New Apple store might block out the sun, Londoners complain

A proposed development including London's third Apple store has been criticised for potentially blocking out light to nearby buildings.

Andrew Lanxon Editor At Large, Lead Photographer, Europe
Andrew is CNET's go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
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Andrew Lanxon
2 min read

Apple is rumoured to be eyeing up a chunk of England's glorious capital for its third London Apple store. The plan, however, may not go as smoothly as hoped, as nearby residents are claiming the proposed building will block out the sun.

The potential third store, Reuters reports, will be in London's financial district -- full of all kinds of swanky people in suits, desperate to splash their mountains of cash on shiny new Apple gear. The specific location is 100 Cheapside, which is between Bank and St Paul's Tube stations.

Unfortunately for Apple, 13 nearby buildings (more specifically, the owners of them) are none too happy about the proposal, claiming it infringes on 'right to light' laws. Out of those, eight are likely to be affected to the extent that they will seek injunctions to halt the proceedings.

A source told Reuters Apple is very interested in the site, which would see the existing building replaced with one offering 87,000 square feet of office space and 13,000 square feet of retail space for all those MacBook Airs and iPhone 4s.

Apple can't spend its cash fast enough apparently, opening a new one-of-a-kind store in New York's Grand Central Station, redesigning the enormous all-glass cube that is the Apple store on Fifth Avenue and opening numerous other stores around the globe.

It's not the first time such objections have been raised in connection with the 'right to light' laws. Concerns were raised last year over a building in Leeds, but the matter was settled out of court by the developers and local council, which is apparently how most of these disputes are resolved.

Will Apple manages to open its new dream building in London, or if it will have to scale back in order to let the nearby residents access all the beautiful sunlight London has to offer? What with Apple's mind-blowingly huge stash of cash, we're sure it won't be too long before London gets Apple store number three and invites hundreds of people to camp outside for the iPad 3.