NEIGHBOURS are facing a second battle against a mobile telephone mast being put on top of a Headington church.

Vodafone is in discussion with St Michael and All Angels Church, in Jack Straw’s Lane, about using it as a site for a mobile phone mast.

But residents have complained about the lack of information surrounding the safety of the mast.

Four years ago, Hutchison 3G scrapped plans to put a mast on the church because of the level of opposition from local.

City councillor Mary Clarkson, from Dunstan Road, said she had written to Vodafone raising concerns about the safety of the mast.

She said: “St Michael’s and All Angels Church is situated on a busy road through Marston, with a popular cycle track running past it.

“It is also on the corner of a busy junction, with a lot of pedestrian and motor traffic going along Jack Straw’s Lane, and close to a few schools.

“Although research into the safety of mobile phone technology is inconclusive, there are concerns regarding the health implications, particularly for children.”

Mick Haines, of Croft Road, Marston, led the campaign against the last mast.

He said: “People aren’t happy about this coming up again.

“The problem is, no-one really knows what these masts do to you.”

The church will earn about £6,000 a year if the new mast plan goes ahead.

The Rev Elaine Bardwell, Vicar of St Michael and All Angels, said: “The mast that Vodafone is proposing would’t be as powerful as the one that was proposed last time.

“This is the reason they need more of them around the place, because they are not as powerful”.

She said the income from the mast would be available for community projects.”

A spokeswoman for Vodafone said the mast would improve coverage for its customers in the area.

Although the company recognised some people had health concerns, she said typical public exposure from the mast would be “many hundreds, if not thousands, of times” below stringent international safety guidelines.

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk