RESIDENTS claim that people power has won the day after plans for a mobile telephone mast have been withdrawn.

Southampton City Council planning officers claim that the mast - on wasteland near Fuchsia Gardens, Upper Shirley - would obstruct the view of motorists pulling out of a nearby retail park on Winchester Road, Southampton.

But Colin Woodward - a resident of Fuchsia Gardens - dismissed that claim and said that residents are the real force behind the change of mind.

Mr Woodward said: "It is absolute rubbish the mast would have been nowhere near where the entrance is.

"Why don't they just tell the truth and say they have lost because people have complained."

Residents were concerned about the impact the mast would have on their health and on their house prices. Mr Woodward organised a 300-name petition that had people queuing on his doorstep to sign - some of whom he had never met before. He demanded a receipt for the petition from council planning officers after they lost a letter of protest from him.

"I sent a letter to the council and six days later a lady in the planning department told me she hadn't received it. But the next day I got a letter from her, dated the day after I sent my letter, which stated that she had received it.

"I said I wanted a receipt or they were not getting the petition they lost my letter and I didn't want them to lose my petition.

A council spokeswoman said: "The mast would obstruct the view of motorists coming out of the retail park. It would be detrimental to the site line of the area."