From Brian Stringer

SIR. Regarding the proposed siting of a mobile phone mast on the junction of Bridle Path Road and Copse Edge Avenue, Epsom.

We are continually bombarded with the mantra that there is no scientific evidence relating radiation from phone masts to health problems and that such masts can therefore be sited anywhere.

Yet at the same time, the Government advises that these masts be positioned well away from schools and residential areas, and that young people especially should avoid overuse of their mobile phones. All of which seems to imply the possibility of a health hazard.

So why is Vodaphone now proposing to site a phone mast at the junction of Bridle Path Road and Copse Edge Avenue in Epsom a residential area with children living close by, not to mention the fact that Bridle Path Road is a busy route for children on their way to and from Wallace Fields Junior and Infant Schools?

It would appear that a number of statistical studies have been undertaken regarding phone masts in Europe, which clearly show a link between radiation and health problems.

Yet, unlike Europe, this type of information seems to be ignored here. This appears to be mainly because the scientific process of statistical analysis is simply not accepted as reliable evidence. Yet new drugs have their efficacy evaluated based on this type of analysis.

What is clear is that double standards and dreadful inconsistencies exist, and that the time has now surely come to have this whole matter of mobile phone masts, radiation, and related health problems dealt with by our courts particularly under Human Rights Law.

BRIAN STRINGER Copse Edge Avenue Epsom