A COUNCIL looks likely to approve applications for three mobile phone masts, despite health fears from parents and residents.

Planning officers at Sedgefield Borough Council will recommend councillors to give the go-ahead for the masts at a meeting tomorrow.

One of the applications is for a 21m Vodafone mast at the sewage works on Newton Aycliffe Industrial Estate.

The council has received a 34- signature petition from parents of children at nearby Clarence Day Nursery objecting to the proposal, and another from residents of Aycliffe Village.

Councillor Tony Moore said he shared the concerns of parents and villagers.

He said: "I don't think we can just put these masts up willy-nilly because I don't think people know enough about them.

"We don't know the effect it could have on the children who attend the nursery and the community.

"There have been concerns expressed all over the country about this, and they have been turned down in other parts of the country, why not in Sedgefield borough.

"I think the council must turn it down and go and get more information." But an officer's report to the council says public exposure to emissions at the nearest houses, 150m away, will be 17,000 times lower than recommended European levels.

It adds that the nursery is 400m away from the site.

Officers do recommend that the most intense beam is directed away from houses and the nursery.

A 22.5m mast at Green Lane Industrial Estate, Spennymoor, and one of 25m at North Close, Kirk Merrington, are also recommended for approval.

Spennymoor Town Council has objected to both proposals until more information on health and safety issues is available.

A fourth application for dishes to be added to an existing mast in Shildon is also expected to be approved.

Officers are recommending that an application for a 15m mast at Bradbury, near Sedgefield, is turned down because it would be visually intrusive.

The recommendations have been made in the light of guidance contained in the recent Stewart Report.

The report recommends stricter controls on masts near schools, hospitals and residential areas, but also says there is no general risk to people living near base stations