YORK council bosses are being urged to pay compensation to a home owner after a blunder led to a phone mast being put up near her house.

City of York Council planners were today heavily criticised in an official report, after the mast went up - even though councillors had refused it permission.

Now residents near the mast in Rawcliffe could be in line for compensation if their homes have dropped in value.

Local Government Ombudsman Jerry White has upheld a complaint from a Shipton Road resident and ruled the council was guilty of "maladministration, causing injustice". He has recommended that the authority should conduct an independent valuation of the complainant's house to see if the mast mix-up caused its value to fall.

If that is the case, he suggests that the council should pay her the difference - then do a valuation of other homes in the area, and possibly pay them compensation as well.

The resident who complained to the Ombudsman, and who asked not to be named, told the Evening Press that she was pleased her complaint had been upheld.

The woman said the potential loss of value to her property was "difficult to quantify". She said ten to fifteen other homes could be affected,

She said: "It might limit our options for selling - I would be interested to see what the valuer has to say."

City of York Council today apologised for the mistake.

Asked about the possibility of paying compensation, a spokeswoman said it was "too early" to discuss financial costs.

She said the council had examined its internal procedures to ensure the mistake was not made again. It was not the case of one officer being to blame, she added.

Updated: 10:43 Friday, May 28, 2004