FIREFIGHTERS at Christchurch have raised the alarm about Vodafone's plans to mount a cellular phone aerial on their training tower.

The 28 full-time firefighters stationed there realise that cancer fears linked to short wave radio transmissions have not been proven, but do not want to take any chances.

Spokesman Clive Waugh said: "We are concerned about the health implications and we're not sure if the local residents are aware of the situation."

As far as he knows, Vodafone has not yet applied for planning permission.

"I think they are seeing it as a foregone conclusion because there are other stations around the county that have aerials on their drill towers," he said.

"But at Christchurch there's a dip at the back of the station. If they do fit it, the station is really straight in the firing line of these radio waves and the whole time crews are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

The drill tower is situated 20 yards from the fire station.

Concerns about mobile telephone emissions are that they can cause increased risk of cancer in the brain and ear, sterility and affect heart pacemakers.

However, to date no proven links have been found.

In 2000 Sir William Stewart headed the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones which concluded there was no substantial evidence that emissions were harmful to health.

But his report accepted there may be biological effects below guideline radiation levels and recommended a cautionary approach.

The anti-mobile phone mast organisation Planning Madness says that the precautionary principle recommended in the Stewart Report, which calls for a cessation of putting up masts close to people until more is known about the possible health effects, "appears to have been ignored".

Vodafone says: "The handsets we sell and our network of base stations comply with international standards for limiting human exposure to RF (radio frequency) fields."

The company has committed more than nine million euros to support further independent research prgrammes and projects between 1999 and 2007.

It has also helped fund the World Health Organisation RF health risk assessment anticipated in 2007.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer will also contribute to the WHO project.

First published: August 30