A mini Manhattan looks set to spring up around Old Street as a series of skyscrapers given the go-ahead.

Planners have just given the green light for a 39-storey residential, retail and office block in City Road which – at 144 metres (473ft) high – will dwarf neighbouring buildings and become the tallest development in both Islington and Hackney.

But it may not keep the title for long – developers The Berkeley Group are hot on its heels as they prepare to submit an application to built a 41-storey building on the same road, along with another 36-storey scheme.

Meanwhile, three other high-rises are already under construction in City Road, including 27-storey Eagle House, 36-storey The Lexicon and the 31-storey Canaletto building.

Leo Chapman, a local environmental activist from Finsbury, said: “I think it’s architecturally awful as they are all out of scale for the area, which is mainly small and medium-height buildings.

“There will be a procession of towers with the Eagle House building opposite Moorfields Eye Hospital, the Canaletto building next to the City Road canal basin and The Lexicon on the corner of Graham Street and City Road.”

He added: “The Berkeley Group is due to put in a planning application for a 41-storey and 36-storey buildings next month.

‘‘It’s going to be quite a cluster. How many more are there likely to be? ”

American resident Viviane Edmonds, of Lonsdale Place, Barnsbury, said: “City Road could use a bit of change. It’s not the most inviting to begin with.

“What’s nice about London is, it’s not Manhattan. Manhattan is claustrophobic. It’s going to change the fabric of everything when you have these tower blocks.

‘‘In some ways it could become a mini-Manhattan.”

A spokesman from Rocket Investments said the firm is delighted to be involved in the current regeneration and making the Old Street area an even better place to work, live and play.