A GROUP of residents have gathered to protest against plans to site a mobile phone mast next to a school and houses.

Plymouth City Council is considering whether the 12-metre mast, which Vodafone would like to erect in Plympton, needs planning permission.

Yesterday concerned residents gathered at the site, on the corner of Redwood Drive and Glen Road, to urge others to object to the proposal.

Richard Madge, 68, lives on adjacent Hickory Drive. He said: "We know the health issues can't be proven one way or the other, in the same way they couldn't prove that smoking was bad for you.

"It won't be until 40 years later that my grandchildren will be saying 'grandpa died because he lived under a phone mast'."

Mr Madge, who organised the gathering along with his wife Suzanne, 61, said he had also heard that phone masts could be noisy, and questioned why it could not be installed on the nearby Langage industrial estate.

The proposed mast would consist of a 10-metre pole with a two-metre aerial on top, and a metal cabinet at the base. The site is near the gates of Glen Park Primary School.

Redwood Drive resident Derek Hughes, 74, said: "There are hundreds of little children around here all the time.

"I can't understand why they want to put it so near to a school.

"There are reports that people have been ill because of phone masts."

A spokesman for Vodafone said: "All of our base stations are designed, built and operated in accordance with stringent international guidelines laid down by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. The adoption of these guidelines has the formal backing of independent bodies such as the World Health Organisation.

"Typical public exposures from our base stations will be many hundreds, if not thousands, of times below these guidelines."

He said he was not able to comment on the exact choice of location at short notice.

In its application to the council, Vodafone said it wanted to improve its 3G coverage in the area.

Mr Madge said anyone wishing to object to the proposal should write to Plymouth City Council's Planning Department, with reference to application number 08/01916/24.