A COUNCILLOR has accused a Premiership football club of putting sponsorship deals before the needs of a village.

The row over a proposed mobile phone mast for Vodafone at Middlesbrough Football Club's training ground, Rockliffe Park in Hurworth Place, near Darlington, is gathering pace.

Councillor Peter Foster said he was surprised the football club was in favour of the scheme.

"I was surprised they wanted it," he said. "But then I realised the reason they are happy about it is mobile phone companies sponsor football clubs, so they will want to keep them happy."

However, a spokesman for Middlesbrough Football Club said Vodafone sponsors Manchester United, and that at present, Middlesbrough does not have a sponsor.

"Vodafone approached us to see if we could site a mast on Rockliffe Park and we agreed permission," he said.

"We have always tried to be good neighbours to the Hurworth community.".

The mast is needed for improving network coverage for rail passengers travelling on the nearby East Coast Mainline, but Coun Foster says it should be positioned elsewhere, where it would not be such a blot on the landscape.

"The village won't benefit from this, it's for people on the trains and there are other masts they could hang it from.

"No-one has been able to prove that there is no radiation from these masts," he said.

People in the village have until the end of the month to express their views on the 25m mast to Darlington Borough Council's planning committee, which will consider the application from Vodafone in July.