PEOPLE living close to York Hospital have raised health concerns about plans to site mobile phone masts on its roof.

T-Mobile wants to enhance its network coverage by putting six telecommunications antennae and three transmission dishes and other associated equipment on the hospital roof.

But the application, lodged with City of York Council, has sparked health concerns among residents.

John Waite, a sales representative of nearby Hansom Place, said he was "shocked".

"You wouldn't think a hospital would be an ideal place for mobile phone equipment. I am not an expert, but there's no smoke without fire, and there are health concerns associated with mobile phones and the technology they run on.

"When you go into hospital they ask you to turn off your mobile phone. That equipment on the roof will be a lot stronger than my mobile."

Mr Waite said a letter from the city council inviting comments was dated December 31 - but arrived on January 6. "They are asking us to respond no later than January 21 which is totally unreasonable," he said.

Hilda Connell, also of Hansom Place, said she would be writing to protest. "Two weeks isn't a great amount of notice. But I am going to do everything I can about this. I will be able to see it from my house. But it is not the sight that's the problem, it's the rays. I have never objected to anything before, but this is something I do feel strongly about."

Mrs Connell was worried that many people in the area would not bother to comment.

"There are lots of students and buy-to-let houses in the area, so it might be that some people won't bother about it."

A T-Mobile spokesman said the equipment was needed to enhance its network.

"We looked at a number of options in the area, but this was the best. We are using radio wave signals, so we need to be high up to have a clear view - radio waves lose about 60 per cent of their power when they hit a wall. We are transmitting very low radio wave transmissions - it is the handset that does the work."

He said: "All our installations conform to very strict national and international guidelines. T-Mobile is satisfied that its masts don't represent any risk to the health of the public."

Howard Smith, of the city council, said the structure was not large enough to require planning permission, and the authority was being asked to agree the location and design.

A York Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said: "We can confirm that a planning application has been made by T-Mobile. We can confirm we have similar installations in existence at the trust, which have, of course, been subject to the same regulations.

"Patients and visitors are asked to turn their mobile phones off while inside the hospital. This is because of the potential for the mobile phones to interfere with the medical equipment operating in close proximity to public and patient areas throughout our buildings. The mobile telephone transmitters are sited so as not to cause interference with any of our medical equipment."

Updated: 10:03 Monday, January 10, 2005