A LISTED Hereford landmark is seen as a mobile phone mast - but not everyone's on the same 'wavelength' about it, writes BILL TANNER.

Vodafone wants to apply antennas and transmission dishes to Broomy Hill tower, one of the tallest points in the city. Critics claim the concept could harm an historic 'skyline' site set in a conservation area.

Dating from the late 1800s, the 34-metre-high tower once held a water tank. Although no longer in use it remains a well-known local feature.

Views are particularly prominent from Breinton where newly-elected parish council chair Alec Dawe said the antennas 'wouldn't affect too many people'.

Communications equipment was already on top of the tower, he said, but problems might arise if any additions increased its height.

Fred Parkin, who runs the residents association in neighbouring Broomy Hill, takes a different tack.

He said antennas were a 'step too far' that would spoil both the tower and its environment.

John Roger, head of Hereford Conservation Area Advisory Committee (HCAAC), questioned the timing of the application given current health scares surrounding mobile phones.

HCAAC, he said, would also be concerned at any 'unsightliness'.

Tower owner Hyder PLC has already approved the attaching of three cross-polar antennas and two transmission dishes to its outside face. A colour design to camouflage the kit is intended and an equipment cabin would be built below.

The scheme, said company spokesperson Martin Watkins, was now 'going through the planning process'.

A spokesperson for Herefordshire Council said that the application would have to satisfy both listed building and conservation area consent before any approval.