FURIOUS residents collected a 280-signature petition against a mobile phone mast after reading that there had been no objections.

The protest was over a proposed 30-foot One2One phone mast and radio equipment cabin at the sports ground in Green Dragon Lane, Flackwell Heath.

The phone company originally submitted a plan to build a mast on the water tower in Tower Close, Flackwell Heath, which, despite uproar among residents, was allowed after a blunder by Wycombe District Council.

The company decided not to go ahead with the plan because of the feelings of residents and instead submitted the new plan. Residents say no objections were made because nobody knew about the new plan.

"A notice was put up well out of sight and we got no letters from the council," said Anne Fox, of Chapman Lane, who delivered the petition to council offices in High Wycombe on Tuesday.

"Everyone was shocked to read in the papers that we had no problem with the mast which was simply untrue. They didn't even tell us. It will ruin this beautiful area and we all know the possible health implications."

Julie Douglas, of Churchill Road, one of the petition organisers, said: "This is even worse. Because the mast is in a pit, it means that it is in line with some people's homes. We walk dogs and take our children up there and as everyone knows, risks cannot be ruled out."

A district council spokesman said the council had only recently started to receive comments from residents.

He said: "The council has exceeded its statutory requirements by writing to the eight nearest neighbours to the site. We have put up a notice as close as possible to the corner of Chapman Lane and Green Dragon Lane, where we believe it will be most visible to those in the general area."