Sir.-A petition from residents in Stratfield Road has helped stop the erection of a 15-metre telecommunications pole with antennae on a substation nearby.

The Basingstoke planning committee refused the application last week.

Quote - from committee report: "As the siting would be a significant intrusion in this location detrimental to the visual amenities of the area, the proposed mast, because of its siting in close proximity to, and visibility from, residential properties, would be likely to increase residents' general anxiety about the health effects of the mast and thereby lead to a loss of amenity and diminution of their quality of life."

I would like to say thank you to the committee on behalf of us all for having the wisdom to refuse this application.

Hopefully, if more people were to object, then many more of these masts might be refused too.

-Name and address withheld.