Neighbours are fighting plans for a mobile phone mast near a community centre - but they may be beaten by a legal loophole.

The mast, which could be 12.5 metres high, would be built for BT Cellnet in Meadowview, Bevendean, Brighton.

But because it would be less than 15 metres high, it might not need planning permission from Brighton and Hove City Council.

Under government guidelines, councils are not allowed to use worries about potential health risks as a reason to turn down applications for masts.

But Meadowview residents and parents of children who attend pre-school classes and after-school clubs at the community centre fear radiation from the mast could be hazardous.

Linda Hide, of Meadowview, is so worried about the impact of the mast, which would be a few metres from her home, that she has started a petition against it.

The mother of three said: "Considering the health hazards have not actually been disproved it is very worrying.

"We get a lot of children playing around the area where the mast might go and a lot of people going backwards and forwards. It is not as though it is an out-of-the-way place."

Mark Drayton, community worker at Meadowview Community Centre, said: "They are proposing to put this mast about 20 metres from the community centre.

"It seems a bit rich if they can just stick these masts anywhere they want just because of some planning loophole. I think it is outrageous."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "We have received a pre-application for the mast to see whether it will need planning permission or not.

"A number of similar applications are being processed for masts across the city."