A TENSE stand-off between protesters and engineers shattered the peace of a quiet North Yorkshire village.

Police were called in to maintain order as angry protesters held a round-the-clock vigil to stop workmen switching on a mobile phone mast.

Residents in Sheriff Hutton had been monitoring the mast ever since it was installed by Orange last year.

The mast was erected after a series of administrative bungles by Ryedale District Council meant its objections to the mast were sent to the phone company a day late.

The mast was not connected to the mains while negotiations between the council and Orange continued. But, at about 10am yesterday, six subcontractors working for Fujitsu arrived with a digger and began work around the mast.

Residents quickly arrived on the scene, demanding they stop. The engineers agreed to down tools, and called the police to deal with the situation. The protesters, meanwhile, called on the council to send its own spokesman.

Three police vans arrived, and Sergeant Cliff Edens stepped in to keep the peace.

By 1pm, Ryedale planning chief Gary Housden had arrived. He told campaigners there was nothing he could do.

He said: "Ryedale's decision on this is quite clear, but we cannot prevent Orange from connecting the mast up. We are still in negotiations with Orange in terms of identifying an alternative site.

"In that sense, I am disappointed Orange is proceeding ahead to connect up the existing mast, but Ryedale has no power to prevent that."

Tempers began to fray, but at 1.30pm, the Newcastle-based contractors announced they would not be able to get any work done that day.

For the engineers, Kevin McBride said: "It is quite apparent we have got the authority to work, but we are not going to do anything more today."

They thanked the police for keeping order - and the protesters for making them cups of tea - and drove off.

Mr Housden pledged to contact Orange to discuss the issue. The protesters were left to celebrate "winning the battle, but not the war".

Leading campaigner John Botting said: "We are in exactly the same situation we were in before - we haven't gained anything, but we haven't lost anything. It's the best we could have hoped for."

Updated: 08:52 Thursday, May 25, 2006