A PROPOSAL to site a mobile telephone mast on farmland at Spennymoor has been granted planning permission.

The 25m mast will be on land at Black Plantation, Whitworth, to plug a hole in mobile phone coverage for the Spennymoor area.

The tower, which might be painted holly green to help it blend in, will be concealed by trees, but the top ten metres will still be visible and this drew objections from Councillor John Khan.

He said: "This is a place of natural beauty and probably the only green wedge left in that location.

"Ten metres above tree height doesn't sound a lot, but that is 30ft and it is going to be highly visible.

"In my opinion these things are obtrusive and I don't like them at all."

He also questioned the health implications and pointed out that councillors had no technical information on which to base a decision.

Members of Sedgefield Borough Council's development control committee voted to approve the application.