PLANS to site a mobile phone mast close to a Darlington school are facing opposition.

Telecommunications firm Orange is seeking approval from the borough council to erect the 15m mast in Staindrop Road - not far from Cockerton Primary School.

The school's headteacher, Chris Metcalfe, and local councillor Bill Stenson are among those campaigning against it.

Mr Metcalfe said: "The council's planning case officer confirmed to me that two alternative sites were rejected at the pre-planning stage and the reason cited for that was the proximity of schools.

"The distance from those sites to schools was 200m and the distance from this site to our school is also 200m. If they're saying it can't be close to other schools, then why should it be close to this one?"

Coun Stenson said: "I'm concerned about the children here. They're advised that they shouldn't use phones under a certain age, so why should it be okay for them to be in the vicinity of this mast?"

The matter will be considered by the council's planning committee.