SIR - Few, if any of the residents of the Harleys would dispute your observation that phone masts have to be placed somewhere. In fact members of the local "Mast Committee" have, with relevant scientific and engineering backgrounds and using sophisticated radio coverage mapping software, identified some alternative sites nearby.

However, 02 deny that they are suitable but to date has neither shared their information nor compared notes with anyone here. They agreed to meet with local residents on November 4. Is it any wonder that people were angry when workman began work on the mast site the day before the meeting?

At best, these actions were insensitive, but having seen the way 02 operates I suspect it was yet another calculated two-fingered salute to the local community.

As your editorial says, "none of us knows for sure what effect - if any - these masts will have on health". That's right - we don't know for definite that they are safe. The chairman of 02 has written to residents to say the mast is "unlikely" to pose a risk to human health. What an interesting word.

If last week someone had asked me if I thought that Elton John would ever perform in Worcester, I would have said that I thought it "unlikely". Neither 02 nor Worcester City Council has the right to gamble with the health of our children - regardless of how low the risk.

CARL FREEMAN,

Harley Goodacre,

Worcester.