A NATIONAL pressure group has hit out at a mobile phone company's proposals to install a mast at a Malvern church tower.

Lisa Oldham, director of Mast Sanity, a pressure group fighting for the "safe and sensible" sighting of phone masts, said it would be "immoral" of Lansdowne Crescent Methodist Church to allow a mobile phone mast to be installed on its church tower.

Lansdowne Crescent Methodist Church has been approached by a company representing Vodafone about using the tower to house a hidden antenna.

"It's immoral and the church should know better because they are well aware of the issue and the horror it causes in local communities," said Ms Oldham.

"The research shows that mobile phone technology is quite dangerous."

The Rev Catherine Campbell Hyde said the church had been approached earlier this year by a firm representing Vodafone with a "tentative inquiry" about installing a mast.

"At the moment we're not actively pursuing the matter," she said, adding that if any plans were drawn up, local people and parishioners would be consulted.

"The church is aware of the sensitivities of the matter, particularly in a residential area," she said.

Telecommunications group Quintel is assisting the church.

Malvern-based Angela Noble, who represents Quintel in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, said mobile phone companies are increasingly targeting churches.

She said operators pay between £1,200 and £10,000 for permission to install the masts.

"Vodafone would be considering it because it's a conservation area and it's highly unlikely they would get permission for a new mast."

Vodafone spokesman Jane Frapwell said: "It's an option we're considering but we really are at the discussion stage. We haven't had a chance to look at the possibilities."