PROTESTERS are preparing to renew a battle against plans to cover a water tower with mobile masts.

Holgate residents last year forced City of York Council to reject proposals to fit microwave dishes to Severus Water Tower, in Sowerby Road.

They are preparing to re-mobilise their opposition as another planning application is made for the site - which already has 34 dishes and an antennae fastened to it.

Applicants Hutchison 3G UK want to attach another three antennae and two dishes.

Councillor Liz Edge, who represents the residents on the city council, said: "The thing is like a Christmas tree already, there are so many attachments to it.

"Residents are already organising a petition against it. There is no way they will stand back and watch this happen."

An application submitted last year by mobile company One 2 One, was rejected after opponents collected 210 signatures on a petition.

They claimed aerials could interfere with TV and radio reception and ruin the appearance of the area. They also expressed concern about the health effects of radiation given off by the aerials, although councillors are unable to take that into account because experts claim there is no evidence of it.

Andrew Wilkes and Associates, acting as agents for Hutchison, wrote to residents in September.

The letters said: "We are proposing installing equipment on Severus Tower. We would like to collect the views of local residents prior to any submission of a planning application."

A public meeting was also held in October. Hutchison plans to launch its network in the near future. It concentrates on advancing communications by introducing features such as picture messaging and person-to-person video calls.

A company spokesman said: "We are aware of current feeling and the last thing we want to do is not work with the community.

"But 70 per cent of the population has mobile handsets. People try to divorce those handsets from masts. If we could run a network without masts we would, but we can't. We know Severus Tower already has a lot of masts on it. We try to share sites to minimise visual effects. If we can't do that, we would need to have a 15 metre monopole somewhere in the vicinity, and that would have more visual effect."

The application is listed to be determined by officers without needing to go to committee.

Coun Edge said: "If this gets delegated to officers and they allow it to go ahead there will be uproar. I have asked the council about it and they have promised to keep me informed."

A council spokesman said: "Unless there has been a change in circumstances at the site, councillors are unlikely to want to approve another mast."

Updated: 09:32 Friday, December 06, 2002