THEY'VE relied for generations on their age-old instincts to fly thousands of miles and still get safely home.

But racing pigeons could now be falling foul to a new technological foe, the mobile phone mast.

According to the Royal Pigeon Racing Association (RPRA), the growing number of transmitters across the country is confusing the birds' natural sense of direction, causing many to be lost.

The association has blamed powerful electro-magnetic radiation emitted from masts and is calling for more research into the problem.

Peter Bryant, of the RPRA, said there were plans to attach GPS tracking devices to some birds in order to test what happened when they flew past the masts.

He said: ''I have no doubt in my mind that mobile phone mast radiation waves affect the birds' homing instincts.

''With the proliferation of masts in this country, it's a factor.''

Mr Bryant contrasted the current risks faced by homing pigeons with their counterparts in the Second World War.

He said: "Thousands of aircraft then carried two pigeons in case they the plane was downed so they could send messages.

''The birds were also parachuted to the Resistance. Now they're facing this unseen enemy in the form of mobile phone masts.''

Despite the claims, Les Woolf, secretary of Staindrop Pigeon Club, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, said he was not convinced.

He said: "I cannot see mobile phone masts having anything to do with it.

"There are lots of reasons why birds get lost: they can be grabbed by hawks or collide with other pigeons going the other way.

"One of the biggest dangers is them colliding with overhead power lines and, of course, the weather, as they don't like overcast skies."

A spokesman for mobile phone operator Orange said: "Pigeon fanciers are entitled to their view but we have not yet seen any real scientific evidence to suggest there is any validity to this."