Mother-of-three Jennifer Adams, 45, raised her concerns after Scarborough Council gave planning permission for a 50ft Vodafone mast at the junction of Stepney Road and Stepney Drive.

Mrs Adams, of Stepney Road, fears that the transmissions given off by the mast may not only prove dangerous to her family but also students at the nearby Scarborough Sixth Form College and the residents of Combe Hay House, the George Edward Smart care home for the elderly.

She said: "I cannot believe planning permission has been given despite objections from residents, the college and the care home.

"There seems to be no proof one way or another whether the transmissions are dangerous, but there is anecdotal evidence, and that is enough to worry me.

"I am concerned for the safety of my children who will be living so close to it, and also for the town's teenagers who attend the college. Also, it is going to be fairly prominent and not terribly attractive."

Elaine Heritage, head of home at Combe Hay House, in Stepney Drive, has raised her own concerns with the council.

She said: "What can you do when you are up against the council and they say their decision is final? It is like being up against a brick wall.

"There are all these talks about what the aerials give off, it is worrying that it is going up here as we have a lot of vulnerable people.

"The elderly and the young are usually most affected healthwise.

"I don't think they are the sort of thing that should be put up in residential areas."

Green Party councillor Dilys Cluer said legislation surrounding the planning process of such masts would not involve the application going before the planning committee and, as long as the company erecting the mast can provide the necessary paperwork, no objections can be made on health grounds.

She said: "The Green Party has definite doubts about these things and we are very concerned about them going up in Scarborough. I don't like them but there is not much that can be done."

Initial work has already begun at the proposed site for the mast, which is expected to reach around 15 metres (49ft) tall.

Rob Matthews, a spokesman for Vodafone, said: "We recognise that some communities have concerns about the deployment of our base stations. We take these concerns very seriously. All our base stations are designed, built, and operated in accordance with stringent national exposure guidelines which have the formal backing of independent bodies, such as the World Health Organisation.

"Typical exposures from our base stations will be hundreds if not thousands of times below the guidelines."



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