Plans for a new 15m telecommunications mast to be placed in Earlsfield have been turned down by council planners.

CK Hutchison Networks UK - the company that owns Three UK -was seeking approval to build the 5G mast at the junction of Aldrich Terrace and Lidiard Rode, right next to Swaby Gardens.

While the planning application was open to comments from the public, they were littered with objections from locals. Many had issues with it being next to primary schools and a quiet park, and one woman called it "totally unneeded".

In a formal letter of rejection to the phone company, the council's planners described the appearance of the mast and its associated telecoms equipment as being "visually discordant, unsympathetic and of intrusive scale and design that would result in excessive clutter in the streetscene, harming visual amenity and spatial character of the location and the character, appearance and heritage significance of the conservation area.

"The equipment would also result in an imposing and overbearing impact on the amenity of nearby residents and would impact the quality of the local play area."

Planning applications chairman Guy Humphries said: "This application caused a great deal of upset and anxiety in the local community and these were concerns shared by us in the town hall.

"We wholeheartedly agreed with local residents that this was absolutely the wrong location for such a tall phone mast. It would have towered over neighbouring homes and been an unsightly and unwelcome addition to the streetscene."

As part of the council's consultation exercise, 62 residents objected to the application with only one letter supporting it.

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