RESIDENTS are being urged to join forces to protest over plans to site a mobile phone mast 100 yards from a Gwent school.

Now Councillor John Cunningham, the local member, has told the Argus he wants to "lead the vanguard" against its installation near Woodlands Infants and Junior School, off Bagley Court, West Pontnewydd.

"There is still uncertainty about the safety of such equipment and the site is very close to both the school and houses," he said.

"The planning committee recently refused permission for a mast near the old Cwmbran Workingmen's Club on the grounds that it was too close to houses, but this is just as close - even worse, there is a school nearby." But a spokeswoman for O2 said the latest report on mobile technology urged a precautionary approach in respect of children using handsets, but not phone masts themselves.

She said: "Research is being undertaken all over the world and there is no evidence of any risk to health. Levels of radiation are thousands of times lower from masts.

"The need for the equipment is very much customer led." But Councillor Cunning-ham said he is urging local residents to make their voices heard, and write to the director of the environment at Torfaen council.

"This was originally going to be a delegated application, because the mast is under 15 metres, but I pushed for it to be heard in full by the planning committee," he said.

Plans for the mobile phone mast will now be heard in early July. Three members of the public will be allocated a few minutes to voice their objections at the meeting provided they make prior arrangements.

More than 300 concerned parents signed a petition urging council bosses to remove a phone mast from the grounds of a Newport school. The mast at High Cross Junior and Infant School, Rogerstone, has been in place for a number of years. But worried parents have now handed the petition to Rogerstone community council.