PEOPLE are being asked whether they want a mobile phone mast to be put up near houses in Darlington.

Communications company 02 wants to erect the 15-metre mast and antennae, and an equipment cabin, in Whinbush Way.

The company already has planning permission for a 12.5-metre mast but wants to extend it.

Darlington Borough Council is asking people who live within 500 yards of the proposed development for their opinions.

Thomas Marley, of The Firs, Whinfield, said: "They are ugly and there is the possibility that they are a health hazard, but really it is an aesthetic thing.

"It is too near to the shops and in a busy thoroughfare where the public are all the time. It will be the biggest thing you will see in the area."

Residents reacted angrily earlier this month when the mobile phone company proposed to install a mast opposite Mowden shopping parade.

It has also applied for approval to erect 15-metre mast in Woodland Road.

An application has also been submitted to mount a telecommunications antennae on Tower House, on Teesside Airport Road, in Middleton St George.

Mr Marley said: "Who would want something like this outside their house? There are plenty of fields that they could be put in and they could be better disguised."

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said people should write to the planning committee with their views.

He said: "Public opinion will be listened to. A thousand letters have been sent out to houses within 500 metres of the proposed site."

People with views on application can write to the Planning Department, Darlington Borough Council, Darlington.