A GIANT phone mast built in the middle of a housing estate looks set to stay after council negotiations with O2 broke down.

The phone company was given automatic permission to erect the 60ft mast at the junction of Stonyshotts and Honey Lane,Waltham Abbey, in 2006, after bungling council officers forgot to object within the 56 day time limit.

Epping Forest District Council had said it would look at negotiating with O2 to remove the mast in exchange for a new one to be installed at the site of the Marriott Hotel in the town, but its meeting with the company came to no agreement.

With that option closed, the council is now proposing to go ahead with a scheme to compensate residents who initially objected to the mast with £250.

But Leon Williams, 61, of Stonyshotts, described the sum as “an insult” particularly as the council's own report estimated the mast had wiped £120,000 off nearby property prices.

He said: “The one thing we still want is for the mast to be removed. Compensation isn't really the issue as far as we're concerned. We just want rid of the thing.

“We still have concerns about our property values and also health issues. I'm certainly not convinced there's no health risk.

“After all this time we thought there would be a positive verdict, but it looks like the mast is going to stay. It's the council's fault it was put there and they should look at ways to remove it.”

Christine Brooks, of Stonyshotts, said she still hoped efforts could be made to remove the mast.

She said: “There's a few of us looking into it. We still want to get rid of it and we're still trying everything we can to get it removed.”

Mrs Brooks is not even on the council list for compensation. She didn't file an original objection as she had no knowledge of the mast until it went up.

She said: “It's right in front of me and we were never written to. I think it's disgusting the way they've dealt with it. We've got young children and my concerns have always been about them. No-one knows the truth about the health issues.”

A decision over the amount of compensation to pay to residents will be taken at the council's cabinet meeting, at the Civic Offices, in Epping, on Monday, July 19.