GOVERNMENT research which claimed the public had nothing to fear from phone mast emissions has been met with scepticism by campaign groups.

The Department of Trade and Industry announced yesterday that levels of radiation from mobile phone masts in the country fall hundreds to millions of times below international guidelines.

The Government study team monitored mobile phone masts on 109 sites across the UK, looking at 82 school sites and 27 hospitals, including Deerness Valley Comprehensive, in Ushaw Moor, near Durham, and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Gateshead.

Deerness Valley headteacher Anne Lakey said the results, in conjunction with their own research, had allayed the school's concerns about the danger of masts, particularly as one could soon be built on land near the school.

But it has not convinced everybody.

Chester-le-Street district councillor John Evans is trying to persuade other local authorities in the region to collectively hire a technical expert to look at scientific research into mobile phone masts.

He said there were strong concerns among the public about potential health risks and the number of masts being built.

He said: "Within 30 to 40 square miles within this district, there are already two dozen or so transmitters, and more applications are coming through.

"It's all very well for the Government to say, 'there's no health risk' - that's not what the people feel and we are not even allowed to take health risks into account when deciding to grant planning permission."

Lisa Oldham, North-East representative for campaign group Mast Sanity, said the Government's emission guidelines were set ten years ago, before a lot of the advances in mobile technology, and many countries set their own guidelines much lower.

Ms Oldham said: "Since then, an awful lot of research has come out; the latest was a couple of weeks ago, showing brain damage in rats quite a long time after exposure."