OBJECTIONS have been flooding in over plans for a “gigantic” 82-foot mobile phone mast in the Woodford Valley.

Telecoms giant Arqiva wants to build what it calls a “25 metre high lattice mobile phone base tower with antennas and associated works” on land at Little Durnford Farm.

Little Durnford couple Charles and Helen Warner have accused the firm of misleading residents over the proposed location of the tower, and rushing through the application.

The couple said the information given was “woefully inadequate” and quoted “numerous international studies” into health risks, particularly to babies and small children.

Their letter to Wiltshire Council said the application was “wholly inappropriate” and the impact on the landscape and ecology had “not been carefully or critically assessed”.

It said the move would have potential health implications for residents, visitors and wildlife of the Woodford Valley.

Gemma Edwards of Lower Woodford described the plans as a “heartbreaking atrocity”.

She said: “The Woodford Valley does not need a mobile phone mast looming over it; to remind us of the excessive demands and wants of our modern society.”

A letter from Lower Woodford Parish Council said: “The Woodford Valley is a very special environment of enormous historic and ecological significance and while the benefits of improved mobile phone reception would be greatly welcomed, the precise location of a mast and its size is hugely important.

“While Woodford Parish Council greatly welcome the prospect of better mobile reception and still support the application from this point of view, we do not believe that this should be to the detriment of local residents’ amenity.”

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust head of conservation policy Stephen Davis said views from the Devenish nature reserve were “spectacular” and the location of the mast would be a “significant impact” on the quiet enjoyment of the reserve.

He urged Arqiva to consider moving the planned mast to the south.

On Tuesday, 23 letters had been published on the council’s planning website.

The online consultation deadline is today, but representations can still be made in writing or by email until a decision is made.

The target date for a decision is February 17.

Arqiva’s agent, Harlequin Group, has not yet commented.