Officials at Brighton and Hove City Council seem to have got into the habit of missing deadlines that affect the people they serve.

First, it failed to apply to the Government in time for cash to create home zones where children can play in their own streets.

Now, it has missed a deadline for objecting to a controversial mobile phone mast put up by Orange in Hangleton.

This meant Orange was able to go ahead with the mast without taking the council's opinion into account.

The council made an error but there is a bigger underlying problem with these masts, which only the Government can solve. Masts need planning permission only when they are more than 15m high or where they are proposed for particularly sensitive areas.

In other cases, the mobile phone companies can go ahead and put up masts after considering what councils and residents have to say.

Most people these days have mobile phones and have to accept there will be masts all across the country so the networks can operate properly.

But the present laws do not give councils enough control over where they are placed, especially when there are worries as over the Hangleton site. In many cases, companies can get together, having one mast instead of two or three, and in some areas their impact can be lessened.