MOBILE phone masts are spreading faster than weeds, said Cllr David Coe.

The Great Marlow parish and Wycombe district councillor spoke after the Orange mobile phone firm submitted plans for a 100ft mast at High Heavens waste disposal site, near Marlow Bottom.

The company has tried before to win permission for a mast.

This time it includes a 24-hour-a-day flashing light on top.

Cllr David Coe said: "There seem to be a plethora of them. They are worse than weeds."

He said the companies have a job to do but seem to site the masts in very high places, having a detrimental effect from the point of view of the environment.

Orange applied to put up a 30-metre mast last year but shelved the idea after nearby Wycombe Air Park objected about the closeness of the proposed mast to a helicopter take-off area. The application was withdrawn. A second plan was put in to Wycombe District Council on January 19, including the flashing beacon.

Orange has offered to put up an inflatable mast to give residents an idea of the height. The mock mast would also have a light on the top.

A spokesman for Buckinghamshire County Council, which owns the High Heavens site, said: "We were approached some while ago by a company who wanted to lease some land at High Heavens for a telephone mast. They want to pursue that if the application is successful."

The spokesman said the council was entitled to profit from leasing the land: "It brings in valuable income to the county council."

But Cllr Bob Woollard (Con, Marlow Rural) said: "We do not want a mast there in my view."

A spokesman for Orange said: "We are the largest network with 5,000 sites and acknowledge that it carries environmental responsibilities. We always try to use natural screening and share masts wherever possible."

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