A row has broken out between a village church and its neighbours after plans to put a phone mast disguised as a flagpole in its belltower were revealed.

Shipley Area Planners will be asked to approve the scheme at St John the Evangelist Church in Baildon, despite objections which include an 84-name petition.

Protesters say nearby Baildon Moor would be a better place to put the phone mast rather than on top of the grade II-listed church which is in a conservation area.

Worried residents also fear the mast could devalue their homes and put their health at risk.

But planning officers are set to tell panel members on Monday that the mast would not have a bad effect on the surrounding area or the church's architectural appearance.

And they will advise there is no clear medical evidence of masts being linked with health risks - except for causing "heightened anxiety" which in itself can have an impact on health and quality of life.

The panel will be asked to give the mast the go-ahead on condition that if the equipment ever becomes redundant it has to be dismantled and taken away within one month and not put up again without getting new permission from the local planning authority.

Nearby resident Frank Moore, 82, said he was totally against the mast.

"It's all very well for the Government to say there aren't any health risks, but the Government isn't always right," he said.

"We don't want that mast on our doorstep - we'd rather it be somewhere else far away from people's homes."

Pensioner George Hartley, 87, who lives in the shadow of St George's in Perseverence Street, said the mast will look an eyesore.

"Even if they try to make it look like a flagpole it can't hide the fact that it's really a phone mast," he said.

"It'll be an eyesore. Nobody in their right mind would be happy about having a mast so close to their homes.

"I don't think it's very community-spirited of the church."

The Reverend John Nowell, vicar at St John's, declined to comment.