RESIDENTS have lost their battle to stop a 39-foot phone mast being put up near their homes.

A planning inspector has given T-Mobile the go-ahead on appeal to put up the mast opposite McDonald's, near the Doffcocker roundabout.

Bolton Council's planning and highways committee refused the firm's application in April, deciding the mast would be "visually intrusive".

Councillors had previously refused T-Mobile permission to site the mast on Moss Bank Way, close to Doffcocker Lodge and had been backed up by a planning inspector when the company appealed.

But this time the inspector, Robert Barker, who visited the site on October 9, decided the structure was acceptable.

"It would present a relatively slim vertical element in the street scene which I consider would blend satisfactorily with other street furniture," he said in his report.

Mr Barker added that there was nothing to indicate there would be a risk to health and that the firm had a certificate showing the mast would meet radiation guidelines.

Some residents had raised fears the mast could be a distraction to drivers, but Mr Barker said it would be no more distracting than nearby street lamps.

Resident, Joyce Bilbrough, of Delph Hill Close, said: "We are quite disgusted. This had been turned down so many times.

"It is so unsightly and will be just in front of where I live. I worry about the health impact and the damage this will do children going to McDonald's for their burgers."

Alan Bainbridge, another objector, said the mast would be "akin to Blackpool Tower".

Smithills ward councillor, Richard Silvester, said: "I am very disappointed with the planning inspector's decision because a majority of the planning committee voted to refuse the application.

"One of the injustices of the present planning process is that a Government Inspector, an individual who lives outside of the area, can overturn a decision made by locally elected representatives.

"Many people in the area will be upset."

The council remains at loggerheads with T-Mobile over a mast it last month erected in Market Street, Little Lever, despite being refused planning permission. The company has refused a request to remove the mast, meaning a public inquiry now appears inevitable.