A BUSINESSMAN who refused to have a mobile phone mast on his land is outraged after the firm behind the scheme put it up 10 metres from his door.

Gordon Chadwick said he turned down thousands of pounds from mobile phone giant Orange in return for permission to put a mast 90 meters from his GAP International Ltd premises in Stockclough Lane, Blackburn.

He was concerned about the possible health problems for his workers, but Orange is now erecting the mast on another stretch of privately-owned land in Feniscowles, even closer to the firm.

Orange claims it needs the mast to broaden its network coverage and proposed the new site on farming land between Stockclough Lane and Horden Rake last year.

Mr Chadwick, whose company makes and exports electrical motor parts, said he was offered £3,000 a year plus inflation adjustments for leasing his land for the mast.

He said today: "It is a complete mutated monstrosity. I turned the site down on aesthetic and safety grounds, so to have something even closer to my business is absurd!

"Not having the money as well is just like having salt rubbed in your wounds."

Blackburn with Darwen councillors gave the Fowler Fold farm site the thumbs-up as soon as confirmation was received that international safety requirements, detailed in the Stewart Report of May 2000, were being met.

John Smith, the farmer who has benefited financially from the site through a yearly leasing programme, is pleased with the way the mast looks.

He said: "I am a bit surprised they did not put it a bit further away from the houses, but they have concealed it well, especially from a distance."

Local residents have been left a bit bemused by the 20 metre high Scot Pine tree, which will take three days to build, claiming they thought the plans had been scrapped.

More than 20 residents signed a petition against the proposed farm site in November on safety grounds, delaying the application until January.

Tracy Hartland, whose garden on Horden View looks out towards the mast, said: "There are worst things to have as an obstruction, but many of us knew nothing about it and only realised the proposal had not been scrapped when it started to grow!"

A spokesperson from Orange said they worked with the local authority to find a suitable site in the area and have made every effort for the mast to be more in keeping with the surroundings.

Other residents seem unconcerned by the visual impact of the metal tree. Mavis Waters, of Horden View, said: "It will not really bother me, but it will really stand out in winter when all the other trees are bare."

And Eunice Vose, also of Horden View, who received a notifying letter about the telephone mast, said: "I have just been laughing at it being built as I can see it straight from my front room. They could have put it further away very easily, but it is not as bad as I thought it was going to be."

A pine mast was erected at Clough Bottom, Broad Oak, on the border between Accrington and Baxenden in January.