A move to install a new 5G tower in front of a city church has led to complaints from the congregation that it will ‘ruin’ services.

The planning application asks for permission to build an 18-metre 5G tower in front of St Peter’s Baptist Church in Worcester but the efforts have drawn criticism from churchgoers who said the ‘eyesore’ structure would spoil views of one of the estate’s “most architecturally significant buildings.”

The church also fears the new tower would provide a nuisance for services and interfere with the microphones and speakers it uses to broadcast gatherings.

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In an objection to the city council, Rev. Andy Browning from St Peter’s Baptist Church said: “We totally understand the need to provide good network coverage to the local area and ensure this is the case for years to come. We very much welcome this and it will be a significant benefit to the estate.

“However, we’re very concerned about a number of issues that we feel make the proposed location inappropriate and also the effect the mast will have on us as an organisation.

“We work very hard to ensure that our building is the best it can be for all who come here. This includes aesthetically.

“Having an 18-metre mast right outside the front of the building, getting in the way of our signage, directly in front of where we advertise our activities for the community to see what we are doing, makes the location seem very unreasonable.”

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Adrian Giles of Saltwood Avenue said: “The church is the most architecturally significant building on the estate and the proposed mast will obscure the front aspect and signage of the church from the road, spoiling the visual amenity of the area.”

Another objector Victoria Golding said: “As a member of St Peter's Church, I believe that this mast and associated structures will have a significant impact on the appearance of the church building.

“We hold regular events outside near this area and we also have a Christmas tree which is sited close to this area each year.”

The church said the patch of land that has been proposed as the site for the new 5G tower was purposely left out of the sale by the city council in 2005 so that views were not blocked for drivers using the two nearby roundabouts in St Peter’s Drive.

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Having invested ‘thousands of pounds’ to equip the building with microphones, amplifiers and other broadcasting equipment, the church is also worried the ‘near identical’ frequencies from the 5G tower would interfere with its signals which would be ‘very expensive’ to replace to prevent any intrusions.

However, highways officers at Worcestershire County Council have raised no objection, rubbishing the claims by the church saying visibility for drivers would not be affected by the new 5G tower.

The county council also said the church was referring to the wrong piece of land in its objections.