FAMILIES are claiming that plans for a phone mast in their Worcester street will pose a threat to their children's health.

They say telecommunications operator One2One's proposal is unsuitable because the mast would be in the middle of hundreds of houses.

Residents in Cherry Orchard, off Worcester's Bath Road, have been backed by Councillor Francis Lankester, who has dubbed the site "entirely the wrong place."

"There are hundreds of houses around here - you can't just come into a community and make them suffer," said Kate Metcalfe, who lives in Waverley Street, "about 10 metres" from the proposed mast site.

The mast would stand on the edge of a small industrial estate, known as Barneshall Press, on Orchard Street.

"People say it's OK but I'm frightened. I'm not going to bring my children up under this mast," said Mrs Metcalfe, who has a daughter, aged eight, and is six months pregnant with her second child.

"We shouldn't put masts like that among people," said Coun Lankester, who lives in Byfield Rise.

"It can't be concealed - even on the Bath Road you would be able to see it from some properties. We need masts of course - I have a mobile phone - but there are the right places and the wrong places to put them."

Planning permission for a mast was granted in 1997 to Ionica, which has gone into receivership, selling the lease on to One2One.

"The previous application by Ionica was approved but there are differences between then and now," said Worcester City Council's principal planning officer Peter Yates.

"Firstly, Ionica didn't have any of the alternative sites that One2One have. Secondly, Ionica's technical requirements were different to One2One's and thirdly, since then Ionica have gone out of business."

Mr Yates said he believed there were other sites that needed investigating.

"It's down to One2One to show that they've considered them and rejected them for good reason."

Mike Davies, community relations officer for One2One, said that a survey would have been carried out revealing "either the coverage or the capacity of the area would be enhanced".

"One2One is satisfied that its mobile base stations, operating within national and international guidelines, are safe and do not present a health risk to any member of the public," he added.

Councillors will meet on Thursday, November 23, to consider the plan.

THE mobile phone companies' rush to pepper Worcester with their masts may dwindle after the city council is handed more power to deal with them.

Councillors at last night's technical services meeting learnt they will have full planning control over applications to build aerials.

It means there will no longer be a Government-enforced presumption in favour of them.

Councillors, meeting to authorise the first deposit of the Local Plan, said new applications would come under intense scrutiny.

"Communication masts are of concern to many residents and will be the concern of all wards in the future. These things are going up like mushrooms," warned Coun Francis Lankester.

He said there was a growing tendency for communications firms to win planning permission to build aerials on industrial areas, with homes just yards away.

Mark Middleton, the assistant director of planning and economic development, said that once the Local Plan was in force, the city would be able to use it as a "peg" on which to hang a new policy of scrutinising plans for masts more carefully and turning them down if necessary.