MORE than 130 villagers protested against a mobile phone mast near their homes in Sheriff Hutton.

The residents showed up to express their anger at phone company Orange for putting up the 15-metre mast in Dasket Hill without prior warning.

The protestors, who gathered with placards and signs in the street on Saturday, held a public meeting in the village last night to discuss how to appeal against the mast.

The structure was put up after planners at Ryedale District Council failed to respond to Orange's application before the deadline.

Residents claim the mast sprang up without warning overnight on October 30. Housewife and mum, Linda Murphy, 35, lives about 85 metres away from the mast in Cornborough Road with her husband Andrew, 40, and daughters Elinor, eight, and six-year-old Isobel.

"We really feel Ryedale District Council has let us down on this one," she said. "I am really worried from a health point of view for my children because nobody can reassure me that it's safe to have these masts so near to homes."

The Murphys have lived in the village for 15 years, moving two years ago from a bungalow to their current family home.

"This was our dream house," said Mrs Murphy. "We have spent two years doing it up and getting it right. Now our dream has been shattered by this mast looming over all our lives."

Mrs Murphy said villagers were given the impression the council had turned down the mast application last March and that was the end of the matter.

But the council failed to tell Orange of its decision within the required 56 days and the company was able to go ahead with the mast.

In October, the Evening Press reported how two applications for mobile phone masts in York sparked fury from residents who complained they had not been properly consulted.

Operator T-Mobile submitted two high-profile applications. One, on allotments in Albemarle Road, South Bank, was approved, much to the fury of nearby residents.

The other, at the junction of Tang Hall Lane and Melrosegate, was thrown out by councillors, despite officers' recommendation that it should go ahead - a victory for hundreds of residents who signed petitions and wrote protest letters.

An Orange spokesman said: "Residents may feel we have got the site through underhand methods but if the council doesn't respond within the 56-day period we have got planning permission. With every single mast Orange puts up some people do complain. People don't want the mast but want better phone coverage."He said the emissions from the mast would be well within the safety guidelines.

Gary Housden, development control manager at Ryedale District Council, said the council had failed to respond in time to Orange's application.

"Locals are very much up in arms against it. When it first came to light we approached Orange to ask if we could negotiate. They took at least two months to say they would not. Things have started to cook a bit now so maybe they will be more approachable."

Updated: 10:46 Tuesday, November 22, 2005