COUNCIL chiefs are proposing to introduce a tougher policy on planning applications for mobile telephone masts because of public health fears.

Sedgefield Borough Council is to impose stringent rules requiring operators to monitor radiation levels, after local people voiced fears over the health risks associated with radiation from the masts.

The move comes in the wake of a string of controversial planning applications for mobile telephone masts. Last week, councillors tried to block an application for a mast near homes and a nursery in Newton Aycliffe.

But following a lengthy discussion which provoked angry exchanges in the council chamber, the application was given permission in the face of local opposition, because there were no valid planning reasons to block it.

Sedgefield Borough Council's director of planning, John Litherland, said he understood the concerns of members, but the demand for mobile telephones meant that more masts were inevitable.

He said: "Levels of radiation exposure from base stations are actually many times less than you would get by using handsets.

"There is a substantial demand for mobile phones and that demand cannot be satisfied by the present infrastructure."

He said the authority should not be concerned about the health effects of radiation from masts, because experts say the risk is very low.

But Mr Litherland said that the council already asks operators to provide details of emissions from proposed masts to make sure they meet international regulations.

He said: "We will go further, by suggesting a condition on all mobile phone sites we approve that they provide us with data on emissions every six months.

"What is more, that data will be available for public inspection."

After an intervention from Councillor Linda Byrne, the authority has agreed that the six-monthly inspections should be made a binding requirement before planning permission is granted for future masts.

Councillor John Burton applauded the measure.

He said: "The whole world has mobile phones, and we're only just starting."

The planning controls stop short of measures recently imposed by another North-East council.

Hartlepool Borough Council held a series of public forums and passed 15 recommendations regulating applications for mobile telephone masts, including a regulation banning them from being sited in school grounds