School enlists local stars to fight phone mast 'threat'

A nursery school has enlisted the help of famous parents and residents in a battle to stop a mobile phone mast being built opposite its classrooms.

Locals were horrified to discover plans by mobile-phone firms to put the mast on the roof of St John's Church in Notting Hill - only yards from the Acorn nursery school.

Campaigners have launched a petition to fight the plans, with comedians Ruby Wax and Harry Enfield, screenwriter Richard Curtis and his broadcaster wife Emma Freud pledging their support.

Vicar the Rev William Taylor is considering the deal with mobile phone giants T-Mobile and Three, which could earn the church ?15,000 a year.

But parents are concerned that the church is putting money ahead of their children's health, amid uncertainty over the dangers of radiation from masts. They want the scheme stopped.

Their campaign has gathered speed with the backing of author Sebastian Faulks, playwright Christopher Hampton, and Priscilla Waters, ex-wife of Pink Floyd frontman Roger.

Emma Freud, 42, who has four children with Curtis, said: "If there's even a tiny chance that they [masts] can harm people's health then they're not worth it, and I feel there's a huge question mark."

Priscilla Waters, 45, said: "My house is right next to the church. We're very concerned about the damage it could do to our children."

Angela Foster, who is leading the campaign against the mast and is a grandmother of three under-10s, said: "We do not expect the church to be involved in anything other than the care of the community - not this climate of fear.

"This is a proposal we are fighting and we are not going to stop."

Fellow campaigner Rachel Grigg, 38, who lives in Lansdowne Crescent and has five children aged between one and nine, said: "It is extremely worrying. The jury is out on the safety of these mobile phone masts. It is irresponsible of the church to go ahead when there's such huge concern around the issue."

St John's Church declined to comment on the mast, but a decision is due to be made by the church council on 24 January. The petition will be presented before this.

In a letter to residents, the church said that if it refused the offer "the income would flow to a private individual and not come back into the community".

It is not the first time stars have teamed up with their neighbours to fight the "threat" of mobile phone masts.

In Hampstead last November, Helena Bonham Carter, her film-director partner Tim Burton, Emma Thompson and TV presenter Cat Deeley successfully stopped a mast being erected at Air Studios.

And last year Koo Stark and other residents protested against a proposal to erect a mast in South Kensington, an area in which about 4,000 children attend school. T-Mobile withdrew the planned mast.

Currently, only masts over 15 metres need planning permission, which means thousands can go up without being challenged.

Last month the Court of Appeal ruled that masts above the 15-metre limit cannot be rejected on health grounds, even if they are close to schools.