TWO mobile phone masts are planned for moors north of Egerton.

The phone masts, from One To One and Vodafone, are due to be planted in the middle of forests off the A666 at Cadshaw Bridge, between Egerton and Darwen.

Angry Turton Parish councillors say phone companies should do a bit of communicating of their own and share masts.

They have already protested against the 50ft telecommunications pole from One To One on the grounds that they needed to "send a message" to the phone companies.

However, planners from Blackburn Council, the ruling authority, have rejected pleas from the parish councillors to block the mast and have now given it the go-ahead.

The Vodafone mast, which would be 69ft high, has had less success and could be refused by Blackburn planning officers if it is not moved out of the forest.

Planners say it would look out of place sticking up over the trees and must be put where it would be screened from view by natural features.

Turton councillors also criticised the masts as eyesores and they feared the microwave emissions will harm local wildlife.

Meanwhile, Bolton Council is waiting before taking action against phone masts which could break height restrictions in the town.

Bolton planners are expecting to receive guidance from the Secretary of State for the Environment following a landmark ruling by a Government planning inspector in Leeds.

The inspector was called in to settle a dispute and decided that the legal maximum of 15 metres - 50ft - must include any base on which the mast is set and the antenna on top.

Head of planning control at Bolton Council, Howard Barritt, said: "We're not going around the borough checking the height of masts in relation to this new decision. We are waiting for some advice."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.