OBJECTORS to a proposed new telecommunications mast looked set to receive some good news this week.

For planning councillors were recommended to refuse the BT Cellnet plan for Eccleston.

The mobile phone giant applied to Chorley Borough Council for permission to site the mast and other equipment on Winter View Farm, Parr Lane, Eccleston.

However the council received a 300-name petition and letters of objection from local residents, protesting about a range of issues.

These included that there was no need for the mast and that it would be better sited elsewhere. Residents also complained about development in the green belt and health risks.

Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle has also objected, arguing that government guidelines encourage mast sharing instead of individual companies applying for their own masts.

Chorley Borough Council's development control committee was told in a report on Tuesday evening that at present there are two 15metre high masts at the rear of the Carrington Centre -- one belonging to Vodafone and the other to Orange. BT Cellnet failed in a bid to get a mast erected at the centre, too, and has now given the council "prior notification" of its proposal for Winter View Farm.

The company says the site is well away from residential properties and that the equipment will comply with guidelines on radiation emissions.

However the committee was recommended in a report from Alan Croston, the council's head of planning services, to reject BT Cellnet's application.

He gave the reasons that the proposed development would spoil the look of the area, was contrary to council planning policy and that the mast could be sited elsewhere.