An ‘ugly and dangerous’ 5G mast cannot be built at a High Wycombe bowling club, planners have said.

A proposal to site the new 20m phone tower at Flackwell Heath Bowling Club, Straight Bit was rejected by Buckinghamshire Council.

The refusal of EE, Three and Mobile Broadband Network Limited’s application comes after the plans were savaged by local people.

One resident wrote: “If it is decided an additional mast is required, a kid’s playground is not the place to locate it.

“Not only would it be an eyesore, it will be dangerous, as there will be teenagers that try to climb it.”

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An 11-year-old girl who plays near the proposed site said: “Putting up a big, scary-looking mast would make it feel weird and not fun anymore. Plus, it will ruin the park and make it look ugly.”

The plan for a new mast was put forward to improve local mobile network coverage after the former Budgens supermarket (Aries House) was no longer able to support telecommunications equipment.

A planning officer noted this but said: “The applicants’ time constraints do not justify the installation of an incongruous and harmful form of development, which will become a permanent feature in the local area.”