A MOBILE phone mast has been hidden on a Shell garage forecourt in Basingstoke for at least a year - and it did not even require planning consent.

Unsuspecting residents and businesses along Worting Road, Buckskin, have been living just metres from the T-mobile mast concealed inside Shell's price sign.

The seven-metre mast is one of more than 200 transmitters that Shell bosses this week admitted have been hidden within garages across the country as part of a money-spinning deal with T-mobile.

The revelation comes as Basingstoke council yesterday held an inquiry to help update its two-year-old policy on mobile phone masts and telecommunications equipment.

Explaining the petrol station loophole, a spokesman for Basingstoke council told The Gazette: "Although the council fully understands the concerns of the siting of telecommunications-related equipment, the siting of antennae within existing structures such as a garage totem does not fall within the legislation definition of development.

"As a result, it is not necessary to seek the consent of the local planning auth-ority or give formal notification within current planning guidelines."

The nearest phone mast to the petrol station is located to the west of the garage, adjacent to the railway bridge. Carolyne Neill, south-east co-ordinator of campaign group Mast Sanity, called for people to boycott Shell petrol stations.

She said: "It's unacceptable that this should happen. They say it wasn't a secret but how many people did they actually tell?

"I think people should seriously consider boycotting Shell stations.

"The joke is that, in certain situations, if you use a mobile phone at petrol stations you can cause an explosion. So what does putting in a mast do?"

She added: "We're not against mobile phone masts, but we do expect them to be sited in appropriate places."

Buckskin ward councillor Tony Jones was also unaware there was a mast at the garage.

He said: "I'm not happy to hear about it second hand."

When contacted by The Gazette, Shell referred us to T-mobile. A spokeswoman for the mobile firm said: "All the planning authorities were appropriately notified."

Basingstoke council is responsible for deciding on telecommunications equipment in the borough.

In the past, working parties involving the council, phone operators and mast campaigners have been set up to develop an approach which ensures the maximum amount of information about future locations of telecoms equipment is made public and debated as soon as possible.

* See Monday's Gazette for coverage of the telecoms inquiry. And if you have a view on this story, write to the Letters Editor, The Gazette, Gazette House, Pelton Road, Basingstoke, RG21 6YD or e-mail editor@basingstoke gazette.co.uk