WINCHESTER residents have reacted with fury to plans to build a mobile phone mast near a school and a children's play area.

They are concerned about the adverse effects on health and property prices after mobile phone giant O2 announced plans to erect a 15m pole in Weeke.

It is the latest in a long line of controversial phone mast proposals in Winchester's residential areas in recent years.

The mast suggested would stand about 100m from Weeke Primary School, opposite the Dean Lane play area.

Local councillor Eileen Berry said: "I have always been against masts where there is a high density of people. We have to try and think about the youth and how they will be affected. Everybody is up in arms against it. They don't want it here."

The mobile communications base station is proposed for a green on the corner of Stockbridge Road and Burnett Close, in front of the former Chimney's pub site.

Karen Barratt, who has led several campaigns against phone masts in Winchester, said she had objected to a Hutchison 3G mast in the same area three years ago.

"All of the concerns about health that applied then still apply, and perhaps even more so," she said.

An O2 spokesman said: "More and more people are moving into that locality so we need to sustain it and make the capacity bigger.

"We have got a lot of science behind us and we are very safe with this."