CAMPAIGNERS fighting against mobile phone masts being erected on the famous Jimmy McIlroy stand at Burnley Football Club waved placards and banners during a demonstration.

The group met outside the club's Turf Moor ground in Burnley yesterday to show their opposition.

Members of Together Against Masts (TAM) joined residents in the area to hold the symbolic protest to let people know their concerns about possible health risks connected to the masts.

An application from BT Cellnet to install a phone mast on top of the Jimmy McIlroy Stand at Turf Moor was turned down by Burnley Borough Council, but Dennis Cannon, chairman of TAM, said the company is looking to amend its plans and to resubmit them to the council.

Since the plans were turned down, he said he had received a letter from the football club saying it would not enter into any agreement if there was any risk to the community.

He said: "I responded to them by saying it shouldn't be up to us to prove there is no risk, it should be up to the people who wanted to install it to prove it is safe.

"No-one can prove it is safe and until they can they shouldn't impose it on people.

"They should do as they do in the United States where certain states don't allow base stations at all and those that do say they can't put them any closer than 250 metres from a residential property.

"Whereas, in this country, they can put them anywhere they want and they pay the Government billions of pounds to do so.

"We are hoping to have another demonstration outside Burnley Town Hall soon.

"The object of that will be a more general one to get the council to adapt a more user-friendly policy so we wouldn't have to have individual demonstrations against particular masts."

A spokesman for Burnley Football Club said: "The club's stance on this matter is still the same.

"The only comment we have to make is that Burnley Football Club would not get involved with anything that is proven to be harmful to the community."