Phones blast!

In an attempt to resolve the row over the siting of one mast on the Park Mills estate, councillor Ralph Snape has called a face-to-face meeting between One2One, local councillors, MP Lindsay Hoyle and the landowner.

Objectors fear signals from the masts could cause serious health problems, such as cancer.

Councillor Snape said: "The proper way to sort this out is by negotiation. I have approached a number of specialists and done everything to solve the siting problems regarding this mast.

"I have called for an emergency meeting with everyone involved, to see if it is possible to resite the mast.

"A full delegation of local residents came to my door last Friday night and we discussed the matter for a long while. We have agreed that four of the residents will also attend the meeting.

And a concerned Eccleston resident contacted the Chorley Citizen about another planned mast.

John Jewell, of Hawkswood, Eccleston, said two BT applications for telecommunications dishes for the White Coppice area had already been rejected.

He said: "A third application by BT has now surfaced but this time for a 15 feet high mast on top of the Eccleston telephone exchange with four antenna hanging on it -- a total height of around 40 feet."

Fearing the mast may be used for mobile phones communication he said: "The mast, should it be built, is only feet away from one house with very small children.

"I suggest that not even BT would care to give a guarantee that there is no risk to health from this type of radiation. We are even told that we should not sleep in our own beds with an electronic clock radio within a foot of our heads."

A spokesman for BT said she could not comment on the Eccleston application in particular, but said the BT Airwave mast would be part of a network being built up for emergency services communications.

Safety was a prime concern, she said, adding: "We work within the guidelines set down by the National Radiological Protection Board."