Villagers in Gilstead say a 25-metre mobile phone mast would be a blot on the landscape.

Phone company T-Mobile wants to put up a lattice tower with nine antennae, two transmission dishes and two equipment cabins at Gilstead Reservoir at Eldwick, near Bingley.

The company already has a small 15-metre mast near the reservoir leased from Yorkshire Water, which was put in place by former company One to One in 1997.

Another company, Vodafone, has a temporary mast on the site.

But planners have already received four letters of objection from nearby residents and a petition against the scheme with 43 signatures.

Barry Foster, secretary of the Gilstead Village Society which is objecting to the height of the mast, said: "We all think this would be detrimental to the area.

"There has been so much building here, we have been swamped by houses and one thing and another.

"It is the size of the tower which we are not very happy about. We will work hard to make sure that villagers' views are taken into account.

"Obviously, we all use mobile phones but things have just got out of hand here."

Craig Spence, of Yorkshire Water, said the new mast would benefit the beauty spot as it would effectively reduce the number of masts already there.

"Vodafone plans to get rid of its mast and put one on this new, bigger mast," he said. "BT Airwave also hopes to use the new mast to help look after emergency calls."

Councillor David Heseltine (Con, Bingley) has asked planners for further information on the application.

He said: "It seems excessively high. I would support local residents in objecting to such a large construction on their back door."

T-Mobile's current mast is not high enough for all three operators to provide high quality coverage, according to Gill Kerr, community liaison executive for T-Mobile UK.

"All mobile operators have a firm commitment to the environment and when building their networks, to provide high quality coverage for their customers, seek to use existing structures or share masts with other operators," she said.

"T-Mobile has always adopted a precautionary approach and operates within stringent international guidelines recognised by the World Health Organisation.

"Sites that are shared by more than one operator still have to comply with these guidelines."