PLANS for a 5G phone mast have been approved, despite more than 60 objections.

Mobile network provider Three wants to build it close to the junction of Middleton Road and Park Drive, in Felpham.

The chairman of Arun District Council planning committee, councillor Terence Chapman, allowed the application to be “called in” because of the number of objections.

This followed a request by councillor Paul English for it to be decided by the committee and not by officers.

Most of the objectors were concerned that the 15 metre-tall mast would be overbearing and too close to properties.

The Argus: A drawing of what the 5g mast will look like A drawing of what the 5g mast will look like

Among them is Bognor and Littlehampton MP Nick Gibb, who said a number of his constituents had written to him about the mast.

One Felpham resident spoke of her health fears during the planning meeting.

“This proposed mast will be beaming microwaves straight into people’s bedrooms, including my own,” she said. “My only choice will be to move house or try to make my house radiation proof.”

The woman said her home does not have a smart meter, cordless phone or a wireless internet connection “because of the radiation they all give off”.

Planning officers said applications for new telecommunications equipment have to be accompanied by safety certificates, adding that one had already been provided in this case.

Government guidance says full planning permission is not necessarily required for new telecoms infrastructure, such as 5G masts, but councils can have a say on where it is placed and how it looks.

The Argus: The mast will be built on a grass verge at the junction with Middleton Road and Park Drive The mast will be built on a grass verge at the junction with Middleton Road and Park Drive

The 5G networks rely on signals carried by radio waves, a type of radiation. Concerns centre around the fact that 5G uses higher frequency waves to allow faster internet speeds for an increasing number of users.

This kind of radiation also comes from television and radio signals, mobile phones, and sunlight and 5G has been declared safe by the World Health Organisation.

A BT spokesman said that mobile phone technology has “no established health risks”.

“It is important that the facts are explained and that the public is informed and not misled,” he said.

“No health risks have been established from [the] use of mobile phone technology and exposure to the low-level radio signals used for it – even though mobile networks have existed since the 1980s and the radio technology used is fundamentally the same.

“This has been the repeated result from a number of studies conducted over several years.”