Proposals for mobile phone dishes on an historic Bingley chimney have been branded as a blot on the town's skyline.

Vodafone wants to put three antennae on the chimney at Stanley Mills in Whitley Street.

But Councillor Colin Gill (Con, Bingley) said the scheme would have a disastrous effect on the view of the town.

"We are losing Mornington Road Methodist Church, the town's landmark church, and now this," he said.

"It's very sad and, after conservationists fought to save this chimney from being knocked down, it will now be defaced with hideous aerials."

Resident and environmentalist Sylvia Adsett said she was concerned about the effects mobile-phone masts had on people's health.

She said: "We have one at the end of our street and who knows what it could be doing to us.

"It's ludicrous that these mobile phone companies can put up masts wherever they like without any regard for residents. And visually they're not very inspiring."

A spokesman for Vodafone said the antennae would be painted the same colour as the chimney.

"It is a replacement for another mast which we had near Bingley Hospital," she said.

The application includes an unmanned station at Laycock International, Stanley Mills.