RESIDENTS are being encouraged to bombard a council with objections after plans were revealed to put up a mobile phone mast on the biggest estate in the Moorlands.

Vodafone has notified residents on Leek's Haregate estate that it wants to install a base station and 36ft mast in Queens Drive.

The firm has carried out a public consultation exercise with residents before submitting a formal planning application to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

A final decision will be made by councillors at the next meeting of the planning applications committee on February 12.

Residents who attended a public meeting are outraged by the plans and claim the mast is being dumped on Haregate without consideration being given to other commercial or industrial sites in Leek.

They claim that it is Government policy that phone masts should only be placed in residential areas as a last resort.

Residents' objections should be sent to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, Moorlands House, Stockwell Street, Leek ST13 6HQ by February 4.

People in the west of Leek are also bracing themselves for a similar application for a mast.

Leek councillor Margaret Lovatt called on residents to submit written protests and to attend the planning committee meeting.

She said: "There is a lot of concern from residents about this application. I would urge people to write to the council expressing their concerns – even if they have already done so once.

"It is going to committee because of the number of objections about the application. I would also urge people to attend the council meeting to show members the strength of feeling about it.

"There will be a site visit before members make their decision and I hope they will listen to the objections.

"I think the local residents are going to have a considerable input into this decision."

MP Charlotte Atkins said: "Obviously, it is inappropriate for this mast to be placed in the middle of a residential area as it is clear that many residents have fears about the adverse health effects the mast could have on them and their children.

"Moreover, it is widely accepted that if there is a risk to health – and there is no hard evidence about this – the risk is greatest for those under the age of 11. Yet the siting of this mast is on a grass verge adjacent to a children's play area.

"On the edge of open ground, the proposed site of the mast makes it clearly visible from the houses and elderly persons' bungalows all around the Queens Drive area.

"Insufficient technical evidence has been presented by Vodafone to demonstrate that alternative sites, such as Fowlchurch or more suitable commercial and industrial sites in the Haregate area, have been sufficiently explored.

"No one wants a mast on their doorstep. This is not just an issue for Haregate. There is already talk of applications for a mast in the western part of Leek."

Vodafone spokesman Rob Matthews said the mast would not be visually intrusive because of the backdrop of street furniture.

He said guidelines governing the erection of masts had the backing of the World Health Organisation.