An “eyesore” 5G mast could be built behind houses on a Great Hollands estate, under plans submitted to Bracknell Forest Council.

Cignal Infrastructure wants to build a 15-metre-high pole on Ringmead, opposite the entrance to Appledore.

But dozens of residents of nearby streets have written to the council to object – calling on it to refuse planning permission.

Many of them said the mast would make the area less attractive, damaging the views from their houses and lowering their value.

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One resident, Robert Gale from Ambassador, said: “There is no way we need to see that from my front windows and it's not good to have it right near the house.

“It is very unsightly and I bet you wouldn’t like looking at it from your houses. There must be a better place to put it.”

Sarah-Jane Bird, from Ardingly, said: “The mast is being planned for construction on the grass verge behind the house in front of us. This is going to be an eyesore, and devalues our house.”

And Paul Wright, also from Ambassador, said the mast would “tower” above nearby houses, while “no attempt” had been made to disguise it.

He said: “The proposed mast will tower above the existing height of the houses and will be visible for hundreds of metres.

“No attempt has been to reduce the visual impact of the tower and cabinets using colour and camouflaging.”

He added: “This proposed development has no place in a residential area as it is visually detrimental, poses a danger to pedestrians and vehicles is out of scale with the surrounding area and it is not known what effect the mast and the other ancillary equipment will have on the surrounding area or the local wildlife population.”

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But in a statement to the council on behalf of Cignal, surveyors Dot Surveying argued that the pole would not “overly detract” from the character of the street.

They acknowledged that building a mast in an urban setting means having to balance between the need to provide 5G coverage with the need to reduce its visual impact.

But they said: “There is an acute need for a new base station to provide effective service coverage and in this case, the height of the proposed street pole is the minimum required to bring the benefits of 5G to this area.

“It is considered that this will not overly detract from the character of the existing streetscape.”

Dot Surveying also said that several other sites around Bracknell had been considered, but were unsuitable due to reasons including a lack of suitable pavements and grass verges, and fears that it could block drivers’ views.