ANGRY families have hit out at how council chiefs have handled a controversial phone mast application near their homes.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council rejected the proposal put forward by Vodafone in Brookhouse Way, Cheadle, under delegated powers in February.

But the company caused a storm when they started putting up the 15 metre high monopole in March.

Vodafone claim the district council hadn't notified them of the refusal of planning permission within the permitted timescale, and insist they have the go-ahead to develop the site.

Further work has been halted while talks take place between Vodafone and the district council.

But residents living and working by the mast feel the district council should have dealt with the situation better than they have.

NHS clerical worker Pam Fuller, of Shelley Drive, co-ordinated the campaign against the mast proposal before it was turned down.

She said: "I don't think the district council could have dealt with the situation any worse than they have.

"They have been no help whatsoeve, and whenever I have contacted them they haven't got back to me.

"It seems to me like they have made a bad mistake and are doing their best to cover it up. At the moment, nobody knows what is going on and it is all up in the air."

Joan Hudson's husband, Pete, helped to blockade workmen who were installing cabling at the mast when they returned out of the blue last month.

Joan, who lives with Pete at The Green, said: "It has been a difficult situation for everyone living here.

"I think if my husband and the other residents had not got involved, the mast could have been built.

"There is also an argument that the district council's planning authority should have been more pro-active when it came to the workmen starting to put up the mast."

A resident who lives on the estate, but did not want to be named, added: "I think the district council aren't admitting to their mistake.

"Once the work started, they should have put an enforcement order on the mast.

"Not doing so suggests Vodafone do have planning permission."

Town councillor Gary Bentley says the two parties could have handled the situation better.

He said: "There has been a breakdown in communication somewhere along the line between the district council and Vodafone.

"The residents haven't been informed of what is going on, although it seems Vodafone are determined to get the mast built at that site.

"Everyone is concerned the mast will still go ahead, even though the opposition against it has been strong."

It emerged earlier this month that Vodafone is considering 12 other locations in the town.

Alan Smith has been running Aynsley's Chariot, in Brookhouse Way, for more than eight years. The proposed mast would only be 30 metres away from his sandwich van. He said: "I would ask any councillor, would they want a mast like this so near to where they work all week?

"The masts have never been proved to be totally safe, and I think they pose a health and safety risk.

"The council should let people know the different locations.

"We don't want it to be a case that the mast is moved from here and plonked in another area of Cheadle where a different group will be affected."

Councillor Stephen Ellis, district councillor and portfolio holder for planning and development services, said: "We have had to be very careful before deciding whether placing an enforcement on the mast order was appropriate.

"If the enforcement order had been placed on the mast Vodafone would then have had a right to appeal against that decision.

"They would have been likely to have won that appeal. The mast is in a favoured location according to government rules and is in an acceptable location.

"Discussions are ongoing and talks have taken place over the possibility of a different location.

"It is in everybody's interest to work with Vodafone to ensure a solution is met.

"We are as keen as the residents to sort this issue out as soon as possible."