WORCESTER'S first tree-shaped mobile phone mast looks set to be given the go-ahead by city councillors.

The 49ft mast, planned for Tolladine golf course, will be disguised with "mock foliage" to look like an evergreen Cypress tree from a distance.

With real trees planted around it, planning officers have recommended that councillors approve the scheme.

Hutchinson 3-G, the mobile phone operator behind the application, needs an installation in the area to provide a service to the central parts of Warndon Villages and Tolladine.

But it recently lost an appeal against an earlier decision by the council to refuse a mast on this site.

However, the planning inspector who made the decision suggested that a mast in the form of a tree would be more acceptable.

The idea has been used elsewhere in the country but would be a first for Worcester, although the city already has a mast disguised as a flagpole.

"If you were looking at it from a distance it would be fairly tree-like," said principal planning officer Peter Yates. "But if you were a person who knew about trees, or you stopped to look carefully, you would probably notice that it was not moving in the breeze like the others.

"The golf course has quite a lot of ornamental trees in rows. This will be like another one of those."

Warndon Parish Council has maintained its objection to a mast on this site. It believes the mast will be too close to a house on Otley Close.

Local residents concerned about the potential health risks and the appearance of the mast have also objected.

Mr Yates said it complied with the international safety standards in regard to radiation.

The plan is due to be discussed by the planning committee on Thursday, January 9.