CAMPAIGNERS opposed to a 50-mile power line which would see hundreds of electricity pylons marching through the Vale of York have been offered a ray of hope.

A solicitor acting for protesters opposed to the pylons believes a survey to be published later this year looking at the possible link between childhood cancer and overhead electricity pylons could yet provide an eleventh-hour reprieve.

Government ministers who approved the 50-mile line of electricity pylons today stood accused by the mother of a seven-year-old boy in remission from leukaemia of "jumping the gun" by giving the go-ahead before publication of the study.

Campaigners are vowing to oppose National Grid's scheme to build the pylons - each the size of Nelson's Column - from Shipton-by Beningbrough, near York, to Cleveland. Opponents with the pressure group REVOLT (Rural England Versus Overhead Line Transmissions) want a judicial inquiry and are holding an emergency meeting next week. The health survey is expected to be the definitive view on whether electro-magnetic fields carry a cancer risk.

Solicitor Martyn Day, a legal adviser to REVOLT, said: "I do not see any prospect of that line being built if that study comes out with a positive line showing a link between electro-magnetic fields and childhood cancer."

That view was backed by North Yorkshire mother Jacqui Smith, who lives near overhead lines at Great Thirkleby, near Thirsk, and whose seven-year-old son, Rory, is in remission from leukaemia.

She said: "I don't think they should be going ahead with these until the results of this survey are out - it would be jumping the gun."The study, which will examine cases of childhood cancer in Britain this decade, is being carried out by Sir Richard Doll, regarded as a top expert in his field having shown a link between smoking and cancer.

Margaret Beckett, the President of the Board of Trade, rejected opponents' health concerns when she approved the scheme this week.

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