COUNCIL chiefs today pledged to give angry residents more time after scores complained they had not been consulted over plans for a new phone mast.

Mobile phone giant Orange has put forward a new application to build a mast at a York hotel.

City of York Council has confirmed it has received a second proposal to put up a transmitter with ten antennae at Abbey Park Hotel, on The Mount.

But angry residents nearby, who objected to the original plan, blasted the council claiming they were not properly informed of the new application.

The mast plan would see the antennae installed in a large fake chimney on the higher part of the hotel building, which is owned by the Ramada Jarvis chain.

Beside them would be six rooftop cabinets and a compound in the hotel car park. The plan was submitted on September 11 and circulated on September 20.

Many residents near to the proposed mast claim they were not informed of the new application by the council.

They said it was only a neighbour, posting leaflets about the application through doors, that alerted them to the new scheme. That leaflet said the deadline for objections was yesterday.

Council chiefs today confirmed they had sent out additional letters to properties near the mast. They also announced that they had extended the deadline by 21 days. Resident Sheila Moor, of East Mount Road, who objected to the original application, said she only heard that a new plan had been submitted when she was told by a neighbour.

"I quickly put a new copy in," she said. "I am still objecting. It is not proven that there are no health risks. This is also a conservation area."

Fiona Chapman, also of East Mount Road, said: "A notice was put through my door by a neighbour. That's the only reason I knew anything about a second plan."

Cliff Carruthers, the council's head of development control, said: "We have already notified a number of people in that area.

"We are aware that other residents are concerned and have sent out additional letters with to properties on East Mount Road and Scarcroft Road and given them a further 21 days to comment."

An Orange spokeswoman said the mast plan was a twin-track application, giving the council flexibility to choose design.

She said: "Orange has been trying to get a site nearby for nearly two years. We have looked at a number of alternatives and this site is our preferred option."

Updated: 15:06 Friday, October 11, 2002