Mast appeal rejected

An attempt by two major mobile phone companies to prevent an order requiring a phone mast to be removed has been thrown out by Planning Inspectors.

O2 and Vodaphone had built the mast at the Glebe Sports Ground, in Whickham, Gateshead, without the correct planning permission. They had appealed against an order from Gateshead Council to remove the mast.

But last week, Government Planning Inspectors reached a decision that the mast was a "dominant and overbearing structure" particularly for those living close by. The two companies now have four months to take down the mast.

“The decision that the mast must be removed was the right one,” said local Liberal Democrat Councillor Mary Wallace. “It was too big a structure to be so close to people’s homes and it was built without the proper permission.”