TIME is running out for protestors attempting to block plans for a 15m-high mobile phone mast on proposed green belt land.

Residents in the Picktree area of Chester-le-Street say plans for the BT Cellnet mast contravene rules about building on land designated for agricultural or recreational use.

The company hopes to erect the mast on land belonging to the nearby Lumley estate, just off North Drive, in Picktree village.

Planning officers at Chester-le-Street District Council have recommended the plans be approved at a planning committee meeting on Monday. This is despite the council receiving almost 100 letters of objection and a petition containing more than 200 signatures.

Protestor Brian Wilson, who lives in nearby Lintfort, said: "Because the location is within a green belt and surrounded by high land values there are certain protection policies that the council has in place.

"It would be an absolute eyesore in a very attractive spot and we feel it would establish a precedent for other local authorities to follow if this one was granted.

"All round the country you could have phone operators saying, 'Look, they built one on a green belt in Chester-le-Street, so why not here?'

"Also, there is a primary school just over the road and that appears to be a hot spot for emissions from this mast.

"Unfortunately for us, the health effects are still debatable, but in terms of planning conditions, we hope to prove that the perception of fear is enough to get the plans overturned."

Government rules dictate that local authorities have only 56 days to make a decision if the phone mast, as in this case, does not exceed 15 metres in height.

If this deadline, which passes on April 24, is missed, the developers can go ahead with the mast irrespective of the district council's views.

A planning report submitted to next Monday's committee meeting recommends approval of the plan, saying the mast's design would not infringe on the objectives of the proposed North Durham green belt.