A PLAN to bring a 30-foot high mobile phone mast to the heart of York's historic centre has been withdrawn.

But T-Mobile (UK) still wants to site a ten metre mast at the corner of High Ousegate and Parliament Street.

The mast, close to the ancient All Saints' Church, would soar above street signs and would bear three antenna and ground-based equipment cabinets.

The company has told development control chiefs at City of York Council that it wishes to withdraw its initial proposal.

T-Mobile had said the 30ft-high mast was needed to provide coverage for new generation 3G phones in York and that it would be a "low-power" transmitter.

But a firm spokesman said it still planned, in the long term, to place a mast on the site - but that it needed to find a new position for the cabinets.

Peter Brown, of York Civic Trust, said: "The mast would be sited within the conservation area and we would be totally opposed to it in that location. It is incumbent on all of us to look very carefully at the locations and, as a community, to play a more active role in finding alternative locations. It cannot fall just to the provider.

"We must open a dialogue and come up with acceptable solutions."

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "The application for a telephone mast at the junction of High Ousegate and Parliament Street by T-Mobile has been withdrawn and they are looking for alternative sites." A T-Mobile spokesman said the company had withdrawn the plans while it looked for an alternative site for its cabinets, which house ground based equipment.

"We have withdrawn the application and we are looking for a new site, but this is for the location of the cabinets," he said. We would hope to leave the mast where it was and this is simply about finding a new location for the cabinets themselves."

Updated: 10:29 Wednesday, February 02, 2005