CONCERNS about potential health risks posed by mobile telephone masts - particularly to children - have prompted protests from scores of Stourport residents.

Telecommunications company, T-mobile, has applied for the six-metre mast at Stourport Working Men's Club in Lickhill Road, close to the town centre.

Residents living nearby, however, say it is also close to a residential area. They have mounted a protest with - so far - 89 letters of objection and a 39-name petition submitted to Wyre Forest District Council.

Spokesman for the protesters, Philip McCarthy, of Lickhill Road, said: "The evidence is not conclusive either way about safety but why are they trying to put this mast so close to a residential area of high density population and close to two schools? They will be within a 500-metre radius of this mast which, some research says, is not a safe distance.

"Why can't it be sited on the wooded area on the other side of the River Severn, along the switchback, where it would be out of the range of people?"

He said he approached 20 homes along Lickhill Road, adding: "Every resident I spoke to, except one, who was only living here temporarily, said they were worried about the health risks and we also know people in Moor Hall Lane are worried too."

Another Lickhill Road resident, Jo Rogers, said: "We are absolutely incensed. We are well aware of the latest studies saying the masts are safe but also aware of new research worldwide with evidence they are not - and those most at risk, apparently, are children."

The residents were also annoyed by Stourport Town Council's decision not to raise any objections to the scheme.

A spokesman for T-Mobile said however the latest, comprehensive review of all the research worldwide over the last four years concluded that exposure levels of living next to one of the masts were "extremely low" and "unlikely to pose a risk to health".

He added: "The evidence presents an increasingly reassuring picture."

The masts had to be sited in the area they were required to serve, he said, adding: "It is important to understand these are simple radio transmitters and receivers. The signals they emit are no different to those coming from the radios used by the emergency services, radio-controlled toys, digital telephones and wireless baby alarms."

Signals from FM radio and TV transmitters entering the home were stronger than the mobile phone mast signals he said. The application will be considered by the planning committee of Wyre Forest District Council on Tuesday.