RESIDENTS are celebrating after a proposal to put up a phone mast in their part of Grays was rejected.

Phone operator EE applied to erect a mast in Lodge Lane, opposite Heath View Road, after it was asked to remove an existing mast at South Essex College due to redevelopment of the site.

Residents and local councillors objected to the plans, insisting the 11.5m mast was not in keeping with the area.

Joycelyn Redsell, a councillor for Little Thurrock Blackshots, said: “It was nearly 35ft high and I don’t think they looked at other areas properly.”

A total of 22 possible sites were considered for the mast.

Planning consultant Shaun Whyman, who spoke in favour of the mast at Thursday’s meeting, said it was necessary to maintain the signal to Lodge Lane.

But the plan, which had been recommended for refusal by officers on the basis that maintenance vehicles could create an obstruction in the road, was rejected by councillors on the planning committee.