A MOBILE telephone mast that is to be installed in Wanborough has prompted fears about a new 'Swindon Disease'.

The mast is to tower 15 metres over countryside around a water pumping station and in spite of official reassurances that such masts give off no harmful emissions, one Swindon councillor has asked colleagues to remember that asbestos, cause of the deadly Swindon disease, was once thought safe.

Hutchinson 3G UK Ltd was given planning permission for the mast in Wanborough after a heated discussion by Swindon Borough Council's planning committee.

Complete with three antennas, three dishes and various other components, it will be built at the Thames Water pumping station.

Local people, including the parish councils of Wanborough and Liddington, had objected on grounds ranging from potential health risks to the spoiling of the countryside.

However, the company pointed out that the Government had called for improved mobile communications, and that there was no conclusive evidence of health risks.

The committee's own officers pointed out that Government guidelines forbade local authorities from taking their own health precautions over such masts.

However, Coun Keith Small (Lab, Western) drew parallels between mobile telephone mast emissions and the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma, widely referred to as the Swindon Disease.

The asbestos used in the railway works, which caused mesothelioma, was not thought dangerous at the time.

Coun Small added: "I wonder whether, if it is proved in years to come that people's health has been affected by these masts, the companies putting them up now will admit it was them, instead of victims having to go through the courts?

"In some cases, people have died before they were able to claim compensation."

Some studies have suggested that people living in close proximity to telecommunications masts are more prone to illnesses including cancer, but the claim has never been proved conclusively.