PROTESTERS against mobile phone masts are holding a day of action today in Hampshire by petitioning people for a change in planning law.

Candlelight vigils and poster displays will be staged in Gosport and Winchester in places where people have lost battles against the siting of masts and where new masts are planned.

New planning guidelines have been issued to councils considering applications following strong objections by the public on health grounds. Protesters are disappointed the guidance does not consider health.

The new guidelines follow the Stuart Report into the safety of radio masts, concluding there was no proven health risk, but there was a possibility of the brain being affected by radiation.

Helena Wall and her neighbours are expecting a forest of mobile telephone transmitters to sprout outside her home on Old Street, Hill Head, near Gosport. A mast has also been erected outside the Crofton pub in nearby Stubbing-ton, against residents' wishes.

They already have one unwanted mast nearby after losing a battle with planners and are preparing for another war against a second mast plan for the same spot.

A collection of petitions from the campaign Hampshire Against Residential Masts, or HARM, will be delivered to Housing Minister Lord Faulkner next week, at a date yet to be arranged.

Mrs Wall and her husband George are arranging the Hill Head protest from 3pm to 5pm. She said: "Anyone is welcome to find out more information about the health concerns about mobile masts and to sign our petition.

"We want the planning process to consider the potential health risks to children especially. We had high hopes after the Stuart Report, but nothing has changed the planning process that takes into account people's fears.''