MEMBERS of a Southampton Conservative club are in the firing line over plans to extend a giant mobile phone mast in their car park.

Telecommunications firm Vodafone hopes to extend the height of its existing mast at Woolston Conservative Club from 18 to 21 metres - in spite of health fears among local residents.

The scheme has been revealed just a week after Tory shadow planning minister Caroline Spelman outlined new Conservative policies to give local people more power to block controversial phone mast projects.

The Woolston club secretary acknowledged that they received a rent for allowing Vodafone to keep its existing mast at the St Anne's Road site.

But he added that Vodafone had not notified him that it wished to extend the height of the mast.

He said: "Vodafone rent the site from us. We don't tell them how high to build their masts. If they get planning permission, we can't necessarily stop them."

Carole Anderson, of St Anne's Road, said local residents were worried about alleged radiation from the planned mast.

She said: "The mast is right next to a Scout hut, which is used by a local playschool. Woolston School is across the main road. They just seem to think they can do this and not worry about people who are living in the area and the effects of radiation."

Woolston Labour councillor and party environment and transport spokesman Richard Williams accused the Conservative Club of "hypocrisy."

He said: "It is this sort of 'say one thing and do exactly the opposite' that quite understandably gives politicians of all party colours a bad name."

A spokesman for Vodafone said owners of land where mobile phone masts were sited were notified of the company's plans as a matter of course.