PLANS for a fourth mobile phone mast to be installed in one village have led to health fears among residents.

Vodafone and O2 have asked the group that runs the Theydon Bois Village Hall for permission to install a mobile phone mast there.

But residents are worried that radiation emitted by mobile phone masts could cause ill health and that installing yet another pole in their village would not be worth the risk.

Jacqueline Dodman from the Theydon Bois Action Group, said: “We have three masts in the village already.

"Some people may have problems getting signal in the forest, but it's not especially problematic.

“Do we want to risk our health for the sake of a good mobile phone signal?”

When residents were asked as part of the Village Design Statement in 2007 whether a stand should be taken against more mobile phone masts in the village and more than 85 per cent agreed, while less than five per cent thought they should be encouraged.

The group is also concerned about 'electrosmog', which researchers claim is radiation caused by mobile phone masts and other electrical devices and can lead to health problems such as muscle pain and sleep loss.

A national helpline called ES-UK has been set up by people who believe they have become sensitive to the radiation by being exposed to it.

One of the helpline volunteers, Sandra Lawerence, 66, who lives in Wales, says she suffers from debilitating pain because of the radiation.

“Since 2006 I haven't been able to travel or go shopping or go to work,” she added.

However, the World Health Organisation has said there is not enough evidence to prove the masts have an affect on health.

The Theydon Bois Village Association, which owns the village hall, will discuss the possible installation of the mast with Vodafone and O2 at its annual meeting on April 13 at the village hall in Coppice Row.

The chairman of the association, Martin Oliver, said: “The companies pay for the use of the land. We're a charity and we have a hall to run for the benefit of the community.

“But we might well say that we're not interested in this and that would be the end of it.”