A TOP US Air Force scientist says he would not buy a house near a North Yorkshire spy base because he fears the radiation it creates could cause cancer.

USAF researcher Dr Richard Albanese says he fears phased array radiation being created by RAF Fylingdales, on the North York Moors, could have carcinogenic properties, and he would prefer to "live outside the beam" of the controversial listening post.

Dr Albanese says he is "medically conservative" and would choose not to take the risk close to the base, which is to be expanded under the Son Of Star Wars missile defence system.

"I think the concerns I have mandate the kind of action that is being taken - medical study, aggressive urgent medical study taking a path between alarm and complacency," he adds.

The programme will reveal that a similar base at Cape Cod, US, is at the centre of a five-million dollar investigation into an unexplained cluster of rare cancers in the nearby community.

Dr Albanese is now running tests at Cape Cod which were ordered after medical experts found raised levels of breast and lung cancer in young women near the Sagamore base, 70 miles from Boston.

Emissions from the radar, like those at Fylingdales, are within legal limits, but some researchers question whether complex waves of electromagnetic radiation should be subject to tighter regulation.

Some experiments have suggested that the emissions from phased array bases can damage DNA, the genetic material for plants and animals.

Dr Albanese was in the team that first identified Agent Orange, a defoliant used during the Vietnam War, as the cause of unexplained cancers in American veterans.

He compared his concerns over radiation affects to those about X-rays, asbestos and lead in fuel during the years leading up to scientific proof they could damage health.

There is no evidence of a cancer cluster around Fylingdales, but the Yorkshire Cancer Register confirmed no research has yet been done. Emissions are within legal limits.

The base is notorious for the effect it has on motorists with numerous breakdowns on the nearby A171 road blamed on interference with car alarms and immobilisers.

Campaigner Jackie Fearnley, who lives in nearby Goathland, said she was "shocked" by the revelations. She said residents had little information on what occured at the military base.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said today: "We do not believe there is a risk to the local community, and the support of the community is very important to the Ministry."

- Dr Albanese's claims were made to the team behind a BBC Inside Out television interview to be broadcast tonight on BBC1 at 7.30pm.

Updated: 10:46 Monday, June 02, 2003