After a two-year campaign to mark the location of mobile phone masts, the city council has produced a map pinpointing every mast over 15m in the city.

The map details the 200 applications received by Brighton and Hove City Council since April 1997, including applications which have been refused and those approved but not yet built.

The council agreed to draw up the map last September, a year after The Argus began its campaign.

It has taken a further 12 months of detailed work by officers to complete.

The document shows how the number of applications has shot up since 1997, with mobile phone masts spreading across the city.

In some areas, like The Lanes, there are antennae on every street corner.

In 1997, the council processed 10 applications. Last year there were 83 and planning officers expect even more this year.

The Argus launched its Put Masts On The Map campaign after being inundated with requests from readers concerned about their siting and safety.

Public resistance to phone masts has snowballed in line with the dramatic expansion of the mobile network.

People across Sussex have fought lengthy battles against applications, as concerns grow about the possible health hazards of living or working near mobile phone base stations and masts.

Anti-mast campaigners have welcomed the map as a step towards transparency but say there is more to be done.

Frankie Luxmoore-Peake, a spokeswoman for pressure group Mast Sanity, said: "There are hundreds of masts in the city centre alone but they are concealed in boxes and lamp posts so people can't see them. These do not need planning permission.

"The map is a good idea and we welcome it but there are still a lot of masts it does not include.

"I think it should be illegal to disguise them as it denies people that knowledge."

Martine Cowley, a mother-of-three, has been battling for two years against a mast in Hove.

On Wednesday, the council's planning committee passed the application to replace a mast on the Grade II-listed British Engineerium, off Nevill Road, with a more powerful one.

Ms Cowley has welcomed the map as she hopes it will help people battling mobile phone companies.

She said: "I think it's a good thing as it shows clusters of masts and makes the issue more transparent.

"But I'm disappointed the council doesn't listen to residents more or include possible health hazards among objections.

"The application I fought against was passed in two minutes without any debate and with only one vote against it. I feel the fight was over before it began.

"I'm not against technology or progress but I'm concerned about the health risks. While there is a doubt, they should not be put up in residential areas."

Mobile phone companies maintain masts are safe.

While the report by the Government's chief scientific adviser into the safety of phone masts found no firm evidence of a threat to health, the Stewart Report two years ago did not rule out the possibility, particularly where schools and hospitals were concerned.

Councillor Jenny Barnard-Langston supported our campaign and has been at the forefront of several protests in the city.

She said: "People can choose whether to use their mobile phone but people living near a phone mast have no choice."

As a member of the council's planning sub-committee, she is worried masts will go up because planning officers are swamped with applications.

She said: "There are currently 3,000 general planning applications being dealt with by 14 officers. In Bristol there are 44 staff for 2,500.

"The problem is that mobile phone mast prior approval must be dealt with within 56 days. After that the phone companies can go ahead.

"I'm worried mistakes will be made or applications rushed through because of a lack of resources."

A council spokeswoman said: "At the moment full planning permission is only needed for masts more than 15m-high while for smaller ones there is a procedure called prior notification.

"Mobile phone operators have development rights but must give the council details of what they intend to do.

"The smallest kind of mast, such as ones concealed in petrol station signs, do not need any council approval."

Announcing the publication of the map on Wednesday, Councillor Roy Pennington, chairman of the planning sub-committee, said: "Some of the anxiety around phone masts has arisen because people do not know where they are.

"The map will be widely available and improve our understanding."

The map is available at information centres at Bartholomew Square and Hove Town Hall, libraries and on the council's web site at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Read more about mobile phone masts on our Local Issues pages