A BATTLE to stop a 15-metre high phone mast being built in Romsey has been given a boost by council experts.

Romsey planners are due to decide on Wednesday whether a controversial phone mast should be built in Viney Avenue.

Residents fear the mast would represent a health threat and be out of keeping with the area.

Now council planning officers have backed the protesters and recommended that councillors refuse permission for the mast.

In a report, they say mobile phone giants Orange has not fully explored the possibility of sharing another company's mast, and that the mast would "result in an unnecessary proliferation of masts in the locality."