A group of Carshalton residents say they will fight "as far as necessary" to stop their road from being bombarded with applications to put up mobile phone masts.

The latest proposals submitted by mobile phone company O2 to erect a mast outside 72 Beeches Avenue come just weeks after three separate applications were received two from O2 and one from Orange for sites at the other end of the road.

And this month's proposals mark a year anniversary since a similar application from BT Cellnet to put up a mast adjacent to 72 Beeches Avenue was rejected by planning inspectors.

The application for a 10-metre antenna and base station, which was first put forward to the council in April 2001, attracted more than 400 signatures from angry residents who claimed it could expose their children to possible radiation.

Although councillors later rejected O2's application, it marked the first ever appeal the council has faced over the issue of mobile phone mast locations.

Beeches Avenue resident Kumar Singarajah, whose house will be directly in front of the proposed mast, told the Guardian he could not believe how the company could persist with an application in a road occupied by young children.

"The O2 mast will be directly bombarding my four-year-old son's bedroom which is about eight to nine metres away. The minute he opens his curtains he will see it.

"O2 seem to be behaving like an angry pit bull with absolutely no sensitivity or regard for local residents' concerns."

A spokesman for O2 said the company had submitted four applications, two at different sites, in order to build on its current network capacity.

"We need to satisfy our network needs in that area we have put in a couple of applications for each site to give the local authority some options."

The spokesman added responses had already been received from residents to its consultation process.

"We are mindful we are in a residential area and we welcome residents to talk to us about our industry."

January 31, 2003 11:31