Mobile phone radiation expert Dr Gerald Hyland is to speak at a protest meeting over a planned Orange phone mast earmarked close to homes, writes Ian Townsend.

The doctor of physics at Warwick University, who is an acknowledged authority on the radiation dangers from mobile phones and masts, will speak at Long Crendon, near Thame, tomorrow night.

Residents have been protesting for months about the prospects of the mast being sited near their homes.

And the Oxford Mail's sister paper the Oxford Star has launched a campaign to Map the Masts because of growing health fears.

Concerns are increasing over possible exposure to radiation from mobile phone masts and transmitters, with campaigners fearing the masts could be storing up problems for future generations.

Mobile phone masts are springing up across the county with few planning controls to stop them. The Oxford Star is calling for a countywide register of where the masts are situated, because as most masts are less than 15 metres tall - roughly 48 feet - they are not bound by planning restrictions, provided the owner informs the local council.

You can join the campaign by filling in the form below and sending it to: Map The Masts, Newsdesk, Oxford Star, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0EJ.

Also at the meeting will be local MP John Bercow, who has taken the fight to Parliament.

Crendon residents showed their determination not to have the mast near their homes by parking a caravan over the hole whole dug for it.

In Brill, villagers set up Bomb - Ban Orange Masts in Brill - and got together a 500-signature petition after the company applied to Aylesbury Vale District Council to site a mast on top of the village's refurbished fire station.

They protested, saying a third of the village would be within the risky danger area of 200-metre radius of the mast, and presented a petition boasting more than 500 signatures to Mr Bercow.

Now Orange and the district council are to have another meeting with the parish council to try to find a new site for the mast.

Protestors in Thame, who successfully persuaded Orange to move a mast to the ring road rather than next to homes and a school, have been helping the campaigns in Brill and Long Crendon.

The Long Crendon meeting takes place in Church House tomorrow (Thursday April 13) at 7.30pm.

Story date: Wednesday 12 April

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