CONFUSION surrounds the possible siting of a mobile phone mast in the spire of All Saints church in Marlow.

The Reverend Sue Irwin, of Little Marlow church, reported in a parish newsletter this month that Marlow's All Saints Church, had been registered as a host for aerials.

However the Rev Molony of All Saints said he was unaware of any such move.

Diocesan House, the headquarters of the diocese of Oxford, was also unaware of the apparent registration.

The St John The Baptist of Little Marlow newsletter reported the news, also revealing they had not applied to have a mast in their church.

Any church aerial is likely to be attached to an equipment cupboard housed in the belfry taking-up just a few cubic feet.

While all churches housing an aerial will receive welcome funds from the phone operator, the suggestion of siting them there has opened a theological debate. In the newsletter Rev Irwin quotes from John 2:16: "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"

A letter in the same newsletter from Little Marlow parishioner Christopher Wallis, of Fern Lane, reads: "Mobile phones are a pernicious fashion fad which we don't need, particularly in our churches.

"They are solely to make money for sharp business men and are used to transmit all sorts of nasties."