Phone companies win right to build mast near schools

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Harrogate Borough Council in North Yorkshire now plan to take the fight to block the proposals to the Court of Appeal in London.

Anti-mobile phone mast campaigners fear the radiowaves emitted by such masts are linked to ill health.

But Deputy High Court judge Sir Richard Tucker allowed a legal challenge by T-Mobile, Orange and Hutchinson 3G - the company behind mobile operator '3' - and ruled the proposals met safety guidelines.

He quashed a planning inspector's decision last December which rejected their appeal against Harrogate Council's refusal of planning permission for a new mast and installation of 3G equipment at the council's depot in Claro Road, which the three companies plan to share.

The inspector concluded that the companies had provided ''insufficient reassurance'' that the mast, to be erected within 400 metres of Woodfield Community Primary School, St Robert's Primary and Granby High School, in North Yorkshire, would not pose a health risk to the school children.

It was argued that the two primary schools would lie within ''the beam of greatest intensity'' from the mast.

Applying for permission to appeal, Philip Coppel, appearing for the Government, told a judge that Mr Prescott was aware of the considerable public concern over the issue.

The case was important because so far 35,000 3G masts had been erected and planning permission was expected to be sought for another 12,000.

Mr Coppel said: ''This is a judgement which is going to be looked at by local planning authorities and relied upon by planning inspectors in thousands upon thousands of other planning applications which are going to be made in order to see through the roll-out of the 3G network.'' Sir Richard eventually agreed to the appeal on the basis that the case raised what was ''clearly a matter of considerable public concern''.