Scottish mother gets militant over mobile masts

Stages protest in four-inch hole

By Kieren McCarthy • Get more from this author

Posted in Data Networking, 19th July 2001 15:40 GMT

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A Scottish mother has got militant with One2One by staging an impromptu protest in a Glaswegian four-inch hole, destined to be the home of a new mobile phone mast.

Sarah Williamson was incensed when her daughter woke her up to say men were digging outside. Workmen were digging up part of a garage forecourt, just 100 yards from Mrs Williamson's house to install a mobile mast.

When she found out the reason for the hole (two foot by three foot but only four inches deep), she stood in it and refused to move. A crowd of 20 swiftly arrived, causing the workmen to contact their manager. Two hours later, they filled in the hole and left.

Mrs Williamson said she was worried about the health issues surrounding mobile masts but One2One says it has no choice and argued that the masts are safe (as far as they know).

Ironically, just yesterday Chris Gent, CEO of Vodafone, told a meeting of fund managers in Edinburgh that new planning rules in Scotland could prevent the introduction of new masts needed to provide 3G services. The Scottish government is soon to introduce new regulations that will force planning permission to be sought for all new masts.

Seems that Mrs Williamson was unwilling to wait until then. ®

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