Anti-mast protester talks to MPs

Campaigner Eileen O'Connor says masts have made many people ill

A woman who has been leading a campaign against mobile phone masts has given evidence on their potential health risks to MPs.

Eileen O'Connor, from Wishaw, north Warwickshire, addressed a Commons committee looking at the safety of masts on Tuesday.

Mrs O'Connor was part of a protest group that campaigned to have a mast near her home permanently removed.

She is calling for a change in legislation to introduce safety zones.

Cancer cases

The mast, owned by Castle Communications, in the village of Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was pulled down by vandals last November.

At the time, residents were campaigning to get the phone mast permanently removed because of claims it had caused a cluster of cancer cases.

Mrs O'Connor, who has had breast cancer and has linked this to the mast, helped set up mobile phone mast action group Scram (Sutton Coldfield Residents Against Masts).

She voiced her concerns over the safety of masts to an all party mobile inquiry at Westminster.

Mrs O'Connor also called for a change in legislation to reduce the power output of masts and asked for more rigorous safety zones.