Residents of a Keighley council block feel councillors have deserted them in a battle to have a mobile phone mast removed.

Orange installed a mast on the roof of North Beck House, Aireworth Road, six years ago. Tenants say at that time the public knew very little about masts and the possible health risks they posed.

North Beck resident Sheila Gilberton says: "It was put in without any of us knowing what it was.

"It didn't need planning permission but courtesy should have prevailed and the council should have told tenants."

Recent media reports on masts compelled residents to start a campaign to have it removed last August.

They held several meetings with ward councillors Lynne Joyce and John Prestage and area housing manager Gerry Pickersgill. Keighley MP Ann Cryer also offered her help.

But residents feel support from Mrs Cryer and the councillors has been superficial.

"Councillors could have found out a lot of the facts we've found out ourselves," says resident John Langford.

DERA Radiation Protection Services took a reading of radiation levels being emitted by the mast last February.

The report given to residents states: "There is no significant radio frequency hazard to residents from the operation of the equipment."

But residents are not convinced and angered the two men who took the reading were unaccompanied by council officers or health and safety staff.

Mrs Gilberton says: "If you're going to pay a lot of money to have something done you should make sure it's done right. I really don't feel anybody is listening to us."

But a council housing spokesman disagrees, saying: "We commissioned an independent consultant to measure emissions from this mast and presented the report on findings for debate at a public meeting.

"The report showed emissions were way below any level which would create cause for concern. After the public meeting the vast majority of tenants appeared content and reassured by the report's finding.

"We've also examined our contract with Orange and it is clear we have no grounds to end it. We've been open with our tenants since concerns were first raised and will continue to keep them up to date on any change."

Local ward councillor John Prestage adds: "We had a meeting with tenants about two or three months ago and everyone there accepted the report.

"From then onwards it's gone dead. We thought everyone was happy."

A spokesman for Orange, which pays Bradford Council £5,000 a year to use North Beck's roof space, says: "We are in the process of renegotiating the lease and will be discussing it with the local authority."

Current regulations dictate no planning permission is required for masts of less than 15 metres high.

The Stewart Report, an independent enquiry into mobile phone masts, has called for planning laws to be tightened.

Scientific research headed by the National Radiological Protection Board is so far inconclusive in proving whether or not health risks are caused by radiation waves masts emit.

National news stories have alternated between claims living closer to masts poses higher risks of various illnesses to a recent one claiming most masts' radiation levels were risk-free.