A MOBILE phone company has said it will continue its fight to put a phone mast in a busy York road, despite being previously refused permission.

Communication giant Vodafone has lodged an appeal with the secretary of state after City of York Council refused it planning permission to place a 12-metre high mast in Poppleton Road, near The Fox pub.

The application was turned down in July following a report from council officers which said the mast would be an “unduly dominant feature in the street scene and skyline”.

Poppleton Road resident Kevin Warters has objected to Vodafone’s plan since it was submitted earlier this year and is angry that the company has launched an appeal. He said: “I know in the past they have had problems over where to put these masts but this has been turned down now and I think it’s taking the mick.

“I don’t like how it looks and how close it is to my home – it’s the visual impact of it. It may affect house prices.

“Why it has to be in that position I don’t know.”

Mr Warters said he will “carry on the fight” to have the mast stopped.

A spokesman for Vodafone said customers expected to be able to use their phones and devices where they lived, worked and travelled and that base stations were low powered – covering approximately half a mile – and so had to be placed close to customers.

He said: “We have identified that we need to improve the 3G coverage and capacity to our customers in York and we have proposed a new shared site on Poppleton Road. This site was chosen as it provides a backdrop of existing street poles and trees against which the site would not be visually intrusive. “We were disappointed at the refusal of the planning application by the City of York Council and we do not take the decision to appeal a refusal lightly. “After making a through review of the available sites in the area, and reasons for refusal from the local planning authority, we have concluded that this is the best site from which we can provide our customers with improved coverage.”