MOBILE phone operator Vodaphone has opened talks about installing a second mast on a field near Chances Pitch, Colwall.

Permission was given some years ago for the existing O2 mast at the site off the A449, despite having initially run into considerable opposition.

The firm arranged for a crane to be placed at the site to replicate the effect of the 15 metre mast on the landscape, as part of its effort to win consent for the development.

Attaching Vodaphone's equipment to the existing mast to save building another one is not an option, according to the company.

Spokesman Jane Frapwell said that because the current mast was slimline, it would have to be made thicker and taller to support the extra equipment. There would also have be a necessary separation between the two operators' equipment.

Ms Frapwell said it was the company's opinion that sharing a mast with O2 was not the best environmental solution and that a second slimline mast would be less noticeable.

"Although the mast is 18 metres tall it will be on lower ground than the O2 mast so they should look around the same height," she said.

Colwall Parish Council has received a letter from Daly International, on behalf of Vodaphone, asking for its opinion about the planned mast.

At a meeting last week, councillors decided to acknowledge the letter but not make any comment ahead of a formal planning application.

Vodaphone says it will apply for planning permission for the mast when it has taken the views of local councils into account.