Two telephone companies have continued their fight to provide north Kingston with better mobile phone coverage - by proposing another 12.5m telephone mast after a previous one was rejected.

Vodafone and o2 have written to Latchmere School about putting up a possible 12.5m high monopole with six antennas and four radio equipment cabinets at the junction of Tudor Drive and Park Road.

The mast, outside a scout hut, would help improve 2G coverage and provide new 3G and 4G coverage in the area.

But Latchmere Lane resident Andree Frieze, who lives about 500m away, said: "The residents are slightly insulted and annoyed that the company has done what they have done. It seems a bit cheeky.

"It does come down to a case of ‘not in my backyard’. "These houses have been here since the 1930s so I don’t think it is the right location for it.

"It is not keeping with the character."

The companies previously applied to Kingston Council to put up a mast outside the former Richmond Park Tavern at the junction of Acre Road and Kings Road.

But officers rejected this at the beginning of the month stating it would "result in an over concentration of street furniture resulting in a cluttered appearance that would harm the character and the appearance of the area".

Leader of Kingston Council Kevin Davis said: "We do get ourselves into a situation where we are instinctively against these going up.

"If they claim the signal has been bad in Kingston then I’m looking forward to a refund."

A statement released by the two phone companies said: "Base stations [phone masts] are low powered devices which cover approximately half a mile in radius, therefore we have to put base stations close to our customers.

"We have identified that we need to improve the coverage to our customers in Kingston and have proposed a new base station at the junction of Tudor Drive and Park Road.

"Depending on the results of the ongoing consultation, we anticipate that we will submit an application for this proposed base station to the local planning authority in the next few weeks.

"This proposed base station is not a replacement for the proposed base station at Kings Road that was recently refused."