PARENTS who battled to prevent a new phone mast being installed near their children's primary school have welcomed news that the plan may now be scrapped.

Families on the Aldersbrook Estate have been waiting for telecoms giant Orange to locate a transmitter in Aldersbrook Road, near the junction with Dover Road, since it was granted permission - despite intense local opposition - in April 2008.

But the firm has now announced that the mast plan will now be put on hold - and may not go up at all - after it launched a review of all its sites.

Mum-of-four, Elizabeth Canavan helped lead a campaign against the proposal because of fears that a mast 'cluster' was forming around her children's school, Aldersbrook Primary - with the planned Orange device potentially taking the number up to four within just 200m.

The 38-year-old, of Merlin Road, Aldersbrook, said: "I'm thrilled. We had been expecting it to go up but wondered why it hadn't.

"If the mast went up that would mean three in Aldersbrook Road and another in Centre Road.

"You worry about the concentration of emissions from the masts.

"Being drip fed radio waves for years is not a good thing for anyone.

"The number of masts needed is finite. People only use so many phones."

Adam Schofield, of nearby St Margaret's Road, described the announcement as 'brilliant.'

Previous plans to install a Vodaphone mast were defeated in late 2007 but three T-Mobile masts are currently situated near the school, in Harpenden Road, taking the total number of transmitters within Wanstead and Woodford to nearly 40.

A spokeswoman for Orange said: "A requirement was identified for improved coverage in this area, and planning permission was granted in April 2008.

"Since this date, Orange has began a full review of all of our sites and this has meant that this particular site has been placed on hold, and may not be built.

"Once the review is completed we will have a clearer idea of whether the site will be integrated into the network."