An 80ft high mobile phone mast would be an obscene monstrosity towering above a small community, villagers have claimed.

They are calling on Craven district council to refuse planning permission for the erection of a lattice tower next to a copse of trees on the outskirts of Draughton village near Skipton.

Cellnet wants to put up the 22.5 metre high mast - which will have an additional cluster of antenna 2.6 metres high - to improve mobile phone signals along the A65 between Skipton and Ilkley and into the village itself.

Villagers are calling for the mast to be sited about a quarter of a mile away at Chelker reservoir near to four wind turbines operated by Yorkshire Water.

A village spokesman said: "Three years ago a Department of Environment inspector decreed that the entrance to our village should be kept without blemish - that must still apply.

"The woodland adjacent to the site has been there for centuries and is one of a few woodlands for many miles."

Craven council planning officer Richard Preston said the planning committee earlier this year turned down an application for a similar mast, only 15 metres tall, nearer to the village.

"This is another attempt to erect a mast. It is higher because it is across the road and if it is to reach down into Draughton it must be taller."

Cellnet media manager, Dave Massey, said: "We owe it to our customers to provide the best service but with as little visual impact as possible on the countryside."

In seventy percent of cases it was possible to place masts on existing buildings but in areas of outstanding natural beauty and the national parks it was more difficult.

In their bid to make masts as unobtrusive as possible, Cellnet had committed £250,000 to a competition challenging art students to design a visibly acceptable mast for rural locations. The competition was being run by the Royal Society for Arts and Manufacturing.

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