Finchingfield residents face the prospect of a 70ft high mobile phone mast being erected in their picture postcard village.

The planning application for the village - regarded as one of the prettiest in England - has been made by Vodafone Ltd.

The mobile phone company has applied to Braintree Council to build a cellular radio base station with a 21-metre mast, equipment cabin and chain link fenced compound at Little Winceys Farm, off the Bardfield Road.

The application is to be discussed by Finchingfield parish council next Tuesday.

Chairman Edwin Collar said the bid was bound to cause a reaction among residents.

"We will be discussing this, along with the other planning applications,'' he said. ''No doubt there will be quite a stir among people with this one."

He added: "We have one mast in the village which went up just over a year ago and it really is dreadful. This one will probably be very similar.

''The problem is, these things happen so quickly, so we, too, have to act quickly. This mast will also be a problem for the residents in Bardfield. I am sure we will have many comments about this at the meeting."

Kate Fox, clerk to Great Bardfield Parish Council, said the council had a problem in that it has not officially been asked for its views.

"The application does not come to our parish council, as it is not in our boundary, even though visually, and in many other ways, it will impair us. This is something in general that parish councils have been very concerned with," she said.

"We would probably wish to comment, and I should imagine people would have quite a lot to say about it. It is a very high mast, and we did oppose the last mast, which is 15 metres high."

Emma Terleske, press relations manager for Vodafone, said: "The mast is being put up to provide coverage of a black spot, and this will cover Bardfield and Finchingfield.

"The mast will be 21 metres high, and the reason for this is so it will cover both areas and we don't have to put up two. This site was recommended to us by the council planning officer, with whom we always work very closely."

Spokeswoman for Braintree Council, Anne Proudfoot, said: "The government has made it clear that local planning authorities should only judge applications for masts with regard to siting and design.

''Each planning application is individually assessed. It is likely to be some months before the application comes before committee."

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