A TELEPHONE mast disguised as a lamp post is the latest idea for Malvern, after planners have rejected masts disguised as flag poles and trees.

Orange PCS Ltd wants permission to erect a 9.8 metre green lamp post holding an antenna shroud on the corner of Thirlstane Road, Malvern, near the Malvern College workshops.

The mast would have a self-contained equipment cabin at ground level.

Planning officer Duncan Rudge said planning permission was needed because the mast would be in a Conservation Area.

"The design submitted is for a slim cylindrical pole, slightly wider at the top, with a shroud round the antenna," he said, "They have suggested it would be midnight green, but we are not bound by that."

Orange's plan to put two flagpole-style masts on the roof of Malvern Girls' College was thrown out by planners in May 1999.

Last week a plan by One 2 One Personal Communications for a mast disguised as a tree was also thrown out, after councillors described it as "monstrous" and "a gross intrusion" on the landscape near the Three Counties Showground.