ANGRY villagers have hit out at plans to site a mobile phone mast just metres from a popular nursery school.

Vodafone has applied to site a telecommunication base-station on land at Hanson Mine in Upper Westwood, and residents fear the mast will not only spoil views but could affect their health.

Amanda Burnside, chairman of Westwood Nursery, said: "A lot of our parents are extremely anxious and our main worry is the unproven health concerns.

"Nobody knows whether these things are dangerous or not, and they cannot prove it either way. Parents do not want to take that risk.

"It might be fine but no real research has been done and what if nothing comes out for 20 years? The research that has been done shows the people most likely to be affected are children and the elderly."

A plan to build a cabin and 12m pole with three antenna and a microwave dish has been submitted to West Wiltshire District Council for consideration and villagers have been considering their response.

The nursery has started a petition to highlight the strength of feeling in Westwood and also plans to write to the council voicing its concerns.

Mrs Burnside said: "This mast will be 150m away from the nursery and we are obviously not very happy about it.

"We are not exactly short of open space in Wiltshire. Why can't they stick it somewhere where it is not right next to children and houses?"

Elsewhere in the village people have been using the internet to research the issues surrounding mobile phone masts.

Jim Burns, one of six householders to receive a letter notifying them of the plan, has written to the district council with strong objections.

He said: "Whilst we understand mobile phones are here to stay and there is a need for the telecommunications masts associated with them, we feel that this is a singularly ill-conceived placement for such a mast and would seem to ignore completely the fact that people's homes are located literally a few metres from the structure."