COUNCIL bosses are set to order a mobile phone company to remove a controversial mast it has built without permission near a Worcestershire school.

Two weeks ago the Evening News reported how Vodafone sparked anger among scores of residents in Claines, near Worcester, after it attempted to erect a mast just yards from their homes in Cornmeadow Lane - without consultation or planning approval.

Householders formed a round-the-clock human barrier around the site, preventing contractors building the mast, and stayed put for six days until Vodafone backed down.

However, last Thursday Vodafone contractors moved in on a nearby site, which is on the same farmland as the previous proposed site, but nearer to the A449, where three masts are already in place.

They began to erect the mast, again without planning permission.

Returned

The next day, Wychavon District Council's planning chief Graeme Duerden ordered the foremen to halt construction, but as soon as he left the scene, the workmen returned and finished building the mast.

This prompted outrage from angry parents who are worried about the health risks the mast could pose to their children - all pupils at Claines CofE Primary School, which is just 450 yards from the new site.

On Monday, the Evening News reported how the group descended on the mast site, armed with placards ordering Vodafone to "go home".

Now the saga has taken a new twist after Mr Duerden has revealed Vodafone is being ordered to remove the mast, which the company has always claimed is only a temporary measure.

Roughshod

"We at the council cannot condone Vodafone running roughshod over the planning system," he said.

"It's there for a purpose to protect everybody and that includes local residents. Without going through that due process it doesn't give much consideration to them."

He said on Monday Vodafone submitted retrospective planning permission for the site, but it was not good enough.

A spokeswoman for the company, which has the right to appeal against the council's removal order, said: "In accordance with planning guidance we will continue working with the council to try and resolve this without removal as it's only a temporary measure for six months."

n What do you think? Should companies ride roughshod over the planning system? We want to hear your view. Write to You Say, Evening News, Worcester WR2 5JX.