A pensioner whose wife died of cancer is among residents who fear a mobile phone tower is to blame for a cluster of cancer cases in a north Oxford street.

Victor Berry, 67, who has since re-married, said his second wife was one of five residents of Lakeside taken ill since the mobile phone mast was erected.

Residents are threatening legal action against Oxford City Council if the authority fails to investigate their fears.

Two people out of the five have died on the northern side of the street, while no cancer cases have been reported in the southern end of the road, furthest away from the tower.

The site behind Lakeside, on land at Peartree Farm, was first used for a mobile phone mast by MM0 , formerly BT Cellnet, in 1995 and has also been used by Orange since 1998.

Health experts told the Oxford Mail that while rare, it is not unheard of for cancer clusters to be found in a particular area, as statistically, one in three people is likely to get the disease at some point in their life.

Mobile phone company managers said they make sure their phone masts comply with Government radiation rules in public places.

Twenty-three people have signed a petition against the tower, and another mast by MM0 which will be put up nearby if planning permission is granted.

Mr Berry, a retired architect, said residents became fearful after reading of unusually large numbers of people suffering from cancer in the vicinity of a telecommunications tower near Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.

Mr Berry's first wife, Sonia, was 57 and had never smoked when she died of lung cancer in 1994. His second wife, who asked not to be named, has also been diagnosed with cancer.

He said: "Four of the cases were in three adjacent houses and the fifth was just a few doors away. All were diagnosed between 1992 and 2001.

"No-one has been able to prove the mast has caused all of these, but it seems strange that so many cases have occurred in the same street."

His neighbour, John Woodhouse, 66, said: "I know Mr Berry's wife died of cancer, and there are other people in the street with it.

"If I had children here I'd be very concerned. It seems to me people are going to have to take steps themselves to demolish these masts."

Alan Jones, 69, said: "Until it is absolutely proven they do not pose a danger to people's health, these masts need to be rigorously controlled."

Dr John Stather, of the National Radiological Protection Board, said there was no evidence to prove mobile phone masts could cause cancer, but further studies were being carried out.

The city council's planning services business manager, Michael Crofton Briggs, said: "This is an issue that the council takes very seriously. Our environment scrutiny committee recently held an inquiry into the health impact of telecommunication masts, while the issues raised by Mr Berry have been considered by members at committee."

He said the Government's Stewart Report, an independent report into issues of mobile phone health issues, had found no proof of a link between masts and cancer.

He said: "We nevertheless follow the Government guidelines and take a precautionary approach to all telecommunication planning applications."

Dr Chris Alcock, consultant clinical oncologist at Oxford's Churchill Hospital, said: "We would be interested if there were clusters of cancer cases.

"If there were incidents of lung cancer in young people who are non-smokers we would be very interested."

Simon Davis, spokesman for Orange, said: "There is no conclusive evidence that makes a link between exposure to radiowaves, transmitter sites and long-term public health risks."

He said Orange transmitters operated at levels hundreds of times below national and international guidelines, in public places.

A spokesman for MMO added: "We have the utmost sympathy for anyone with such a serious condition, but there is no evidence to support people's concerns that there are health risks associated with mobile phone masts."

Tell us what you think.