A MOBILE phone company has been asked to think again about a transmitter mast near Drayton School in Banbury.

Town MP Tony Baldry has written to O2 asking the firm to reconsider the siting of the mast recently installed at the junction of Bretch Hill and Stratford Road after claims in The Sunday Times at the weekend that cancer clusters had been discovered around phone masts in other parts of the country.

The Drayton School mast, less than 50 yards from nursery classrooms, was the subject of a mass protest in February, when Mr Baldry joined parents and other residents in a demonstration near the mast site.

Mr Baldry said: "The Sunday Times alleges that seven clusters of cancer and other serious illnesses have been discovered around mobile phone masts.

"One of the studies in Warwickshire showed that a quarter of the 30 staff at a special school near a 90ft high mast have developed tumours since 2000, while another quarter have suffered significant health problems.

"The mast has been pulled down by 02 after the presentation of the evidence by local protestors."

The local campaign against the Drayton mast was led by Mary Jenvey who said residents were 'hacked off' with masts being installed in unsuitable places."

O2 spokesman Angela Johnson said at the time: "The mast is a low-powered transmitter and gives off less emissions than a TV set."

She said there was nowhere else for it to go.