Sutton villagers are fighting plans to erect a mobile phone mast in a nearby field.

BT Cellnet want to install the mast in Thompson's Yard, a field off Holme Lane. But local residents fear radiation waves could damage their health.

Rita Newiss, of Holme Close, about 200 yards from where the mast would be, plans to start a campaign opposing the plans.

She hopes a similar application recently thrown out by Dales National Park planners has set a precedent for Sutton.

South Craven School and Holme Garth Day Nursery are both within yards of the mast site.

Rita says: "There are other areas far better suited. We live here and until it's proved one way or another that there are health risks we've got to err on the side of caution."

She is concerned that because the site is on the border between Sutton and Cross Hills, people on the Cross Hills side may be unaware of the plans.

Current planning regulations prevent objections to masts on health grounds.

Scientific research into whether the masts' radiation emissions are harmful, like that carried out by Government body the National Radiological Protection Board, is so far inconclusive.

But the Stewart report, a recent independent inquiry into the effects of masts, says beams should not fall on schools without parents' and education authorities' consent.

BT Cellnet says: "We support the findings of the Stewart report and we take the health of all people very seriously."