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News Burst: Tories call for national ban on mobile masts

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 31 Jan 2001 11:33 GMT

The Conservative Party has called for all the UK's local authorities to ban the installation of mobile phone masts on council land.

In a letter sent to Conservative group leaders, shadow environment secretary Archie Norman urged that planning permission be refused for any new mobile masts on council land. He claimed that the masts are damaging the environment as well as raising public concerns over possible health risks.

Norman accused the Labour government of avoiding the problem of mobile masts. "Is their main concern to avoid offending the telecommunication companies?" he asked.

Earlier this month, Kent County Council voted to refuse planning permission for mobile phone masts on its land. It claimed that it was only following the advice of the Stewart Report, and accused mobile phone companies of hiding from the public.

Full story to follow.

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