CELEBRATIONS are taking place in Old Felixstowe after a mobile phone company withdrew its plans to put up a giant new mast near homes.Outraged residents organised a protest campaign against the mast and more than 360 householders signed a petition and many others wrote letters of objection.

CELEBRATIONS are taking place in Old Felixstowe after a mobile phone company withdrew its plans to put up a giant new mast near homes.

Outraged residents organised a protest campaign against the mast and more than 360 householders signed a petition and many others wrote letters of objection.

They feared electro-magnetic waves from the aerials could create health problems for the future and the mast would be unsightly in the countryside.

But now the residents have received letters from Jeremy Schofield, director of planning and leisure at Suffolk Coastal council, to say that BT Cellnet has withdrawn its application for planning permission.

The company had wanted to take down its 15m mast at Park Farm, Gulpher Road, and replace it with the larger one.

The new 20 metre lattice structure would have been able to hold more aerials.

Residents' spokesman Joe Cawston said people in the area were delighted with the news.

"We are absolutely thrilled – this is another victory for the residents. I want to thank everyone who signed the petition and has written letters for the action they took and hopefully the strong feelings of the people in the area were taken into account," he said.

"We will be keeping a close eye on the situation and if there are any further plans to put more aerials there, we will protest again.

"The current one is an eyesore and no-one knows yet what effects these masts could have on health in the future."

It was the second time the residents in Upperfield Drive, Ferry Road, Swallow Close and Conway Close had fought and won a battle to stop a second mast being put up at the farm.

The mobile phone sector is continuing to grow massively – it is estimated that the four main operators now have over 40 million users between them.

The recent sale of 'new generation' licences by the Government raised £22.5 billion from the companies, but is expected to mean that 60,000 to 100,000 new mast sites could be needed across the country during the next five years.