A LONG-RUNNING battle to stop Orange siting a phone mast at Winchester's Byron Avenue, close to Western School, has taken another twist.

With public inquiries and High Court hearings going against them, campaigners are waiting to learn if they can take their case to the European Courts.

But there's a new row over a couple's application for legal rights to the land.

If Alan and Anne Saunders, whose Chilbolton Avenue home adjoins the plot, succeed with their bid, Orange would have to ask them for permission.

Having paid a deposit of £500, they were told by the owners, Hampshire County Council, that the process would be straightforward.

Now they are claiming that the council has notified Orange, when it had no legal obligation to do so and they are accusing the authority of dragging its heels over the issue.

Orange have objected and the county council's cabinet is being asked to make a decision.

"Here was an opportunity to solve a long-running blight on the area and a great worry for the primary school and here was a simple loophole we could exploit," said Mrs Saunders, who is a city councillor.

She says she has been "fobbed off" every time she has asked how the application was progressing.

"We've paid £500 and yet we have been treated as a nuisance," she added. "Legally, all HCC had to do was advertise our application and let any interested parties object if they wished. They were under no obligation to consult Orange," she said.

A spokesman for the county council said the matter was complicated because Orange had planning permission. He said that if it went to the magistrates court, Orange would certainly fight it. But the spokesman admitted that, in theory, there was nothing to prevent the application going through.