A NEIGHBOURHOOD has sent a message to mobile phone giant Vodafone – "Don't build your mast on our doorstep".

Mother-of-one Pam Fuller, of Majors Barn, Cheadle, was stunned when she discovered an application has been submitted to install a 12-metre high monopole just down the road from her house.

The telecoms company wants permission to site its equipment – which also includes a type of radio antenna and a galvanised cabinet – on a grass verge at Brookhouse Industrial Estate.

Now she and other angry families are planning to bombard Staffordshire Moorlands District Council with protest letters.

The NHS clerical worker said: "It will obviously be a complete eyesore but I suppose because it is classed as being on an industrial estate, they thought it could be a soft option.

"But the site is right on the edge of a housing estate and everyone is concerned. I moved to Majors Barn nine years ago but I wouldn't have considered it if a great big phone mast was just down the road."

Her neighbour, mother-of-two Karen Bass, was equally upset.

The 46-year-old housewife said: "With homes right next the to the application site, I am genuinely concerned for the health of my children – they are only aged seven and nine. It is imperative we stop this in its tracks."

Alan Smith has been running Aynsley's Chariot, in Brookhouse Way, for over eight years. If built, the device will only be 30 metres away from his van.

He said: "At 12 metres tall, it will be a giant construction and I shouldn't imagine it will look too pretty."

Pam added: "Even if the pole wouldn't be officially in a residential area, they don't seem to have taken into account the people who work at Brookhouses 10 hours every day.

"It seems like a bizarre loophole everyone has forgotten to close.

"There is no problem with mobile phone reception in Cheadle, I don't see why we should accept any more masts."

A spokesman for Vodafone insisted the proposal complied with regulations governing the installation of phone masts.

He said: "The proposed installation is intended to provide 3G [third generation technology] to the immediate area."

The district council is expected to make a ruling on the plans later this month. The application has already been approved by Cheadle Town Council, which described the town as a "blackhole" for 3G coverage.

Twelve years ago, Christine McLoone, of Shelley Drive, moved from Werrington to get away from a phone mast when she was diagnosed with cancer.

The 58-year-old probation officer said: "I chose to move to Cheadle and recovered. No matter what anyone tells me, I will always attribute what happened to that phone mast.

"I am in remission now and I thought I could settle down to enjoy my retirement. If a phone mast is built less than half a mile from my house this just won't be possible."

Residents are now delivering leaflets around their community to encourage others to send their objections to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.