This is the view of Green Party member Roy Sandison, who wants to make people aware of a forthcoming Vodaphone proposal.

The plan could lead to the technology being put up at the Davis Building near to Northlands Primary School in Pinders Lane.

He is also concerned about 15 masts which currently stand within a one-mile radius of each other in the town centre.

Mr Sandison said: "The proposed siting of a mast near Northlands School will concern anyone with any knowledge about the mounting evidence of clusters of cancers and other ailments near these devices.

"Young children are especially susceptible receptors and these masts must not be sited near schools.

"Existing masts should be immediately moved to safer environments and should be reduced in number by companies sharing the transmitters."

Vodaphone's Dr Rob Matthews confirmed it has plans to install a radio base station in Railway Terrace in order to improve mobile broadband coverage for customers in the area.

He explained that its location was chosen on the roof of the building to "minimise visual intrusion".

Vodaphone has contacted planning officers, ward councillors and the school and is "awaiting feedback" before it decides to make the application.

Dr Matthews said: "We recognise that some communities are concerned regarding the deployment of radio base stations.

"All of our base stations are designed, built and operated in
accordance with stringent international guidelines.

"The adoption of these guidelines has the formal backing of independent bodies such as the World Health Organisation.

"Typical public exposures from our base stations will be many hundreds, if not thousands, of times below these guidelines.

An independent expert group concluded in March 2007 that exposures from radio base stations 'are so low as to make it immaterial where masts are located with respect to schools, playgrounds, health centres or other places where children gather.

But the campaign group Mast Sanity has argued that government safety guidelines "offer no protection at all against long term and non-thermal effects of microwave radiation" which cause "adverse health effects".

To find out where the nearest mobile phone mast is to you, visit http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/