Furious residents have launched a campaign to stop a mobile phone pole being put on land near their Baildon homes.

They fear the ten-metre high monopole that BT Cellnet wants to put on a grass verge on West Lane near Westleigh Lane could pose a health risk to them and pupils at a nearby school.

And they say the pole, antennae and ground-based equipment cabinets - which BT Cellnet say are needed to improve coverage in the area - would create an eyesore on the edge of Baildon Moor and become a target for vandals.

The residents, who are asking Bradford Council to block the project and BT Cellnet to find another site, have collected more than 300 names on petitions opposing the scheme.

Petition organiser Jayne Bennett, of Westleigh Drive, said: "Nobody can say these things are 100 per cent safe so they shouldn't be putting one so close to a residential area and school.

"It will be an eyesore and as it'd be on a verge next to the road I can imagine it being a target for vandals."

Councillor Grahame Thornton (Lib-Dem, Baildon) said: "Nobody's yet absolutely certain whether these masts transmit radiation that's harmless and until we are sure I don't think they should be near houses.''

And the school's headteacher Paul Richardson said: "Unless they can say there's no risk whatsoever it would be better not to have it there.''

A BT Cellnet spokesman said independent reports had found there was no proven evidence of health risks from cell sites or exposure to radio frequency waves below the national guidelines.

A Council spokesman said although planning permission was not needed as the pole was less than 15 metres, prior notification of the plans had to be given with the local authority having 42 days to consider them.