FEARS that a proposed mast near their homes could be hazardous to health has prompted a call for an urgent meeting between residents, a mobile phone company, and Bromsgrove planners.

Phone giant T-Mobile is seeking permission from the district council to erect a station and G3 12-metre mast near a the summit of Rose Hill on Old Birmingham Road, Lickey, close to a popular beauty spot.

It will be disguised as a telegraph pole to soften the visual impact. After reading of the proposal in the Advertiser/Messenger, several residents contacted their county councillor Peter McDonald (Lab-Beacon) urging him to intervene.

He said: "With a nursery and a school nearby I share their fears about possible effects on health. The risk factor is too high and it seems common sense to put the mast in Monument Lane where one already exists."

He considered the issue so important he had asked the application be discussed by the full planning committee rather than be decided by officers under delegated powers.

But at Monday's planning committee meeting it was decided no decision should be taken until all interested parties had met. If the meeting is not held before July 18, the last day on which the council is empowered to make a decision, the application is automatically granted.

T-Mobile spokesman John Shaughnessy said they had looked at alternatives but regarded the option with a replica telegraph pole as a suitable solution.

"The weight of world-wide scientific evidence is that there is no link between these base stations and the health of the community," he said.

District councillor Ann Doyle (Ind-Hillside) also had calls from worried residents and Lickey Community Group. She said apart from the health issue she is concerned with the impact on an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Cllr McDonald said he was pleased residents may be able to talk to company officials.