A sports club has turned down lucrative offers from mobile phone companies who want to put masts on its roof.

Conrad Young, general manager of the Winchester Tennis and Squash Club, says it has been approached by three firms, each offering at least £2,500 a year for use of its Bereweeke Road premises.

But the club is standing firm, leading a campaign, urging other sporting organisations to follow its example all the time the health risk of mobile phones remains an issue.

"In the sport and health industry, we should take a precautionary approach," said Mr Young.

"Some 400 juniors use our club every week. What percentage of these young people may be affected in ways we cannot think of now?

"Our campaign is to make the sporting bodies aware of this issue and offer guidelines for sports venues. Our objective is to stop leisure providers housing masts and join with pressure and opinion groups to force local authorities to take a more balanced approach and to plan the siting of masts throughout the country."

He says the lure of much-needed funds may blind clubs to the health implications.

"It starts with clubs thinking it's a nice little earner and then you dig deeper and suddenly you find it could do more harm than good.

"It could end up that if you play sport, you will be more likely to come into contact with radiation and you could do more harm to yourself.

"While you can't stop technology, you can ensure it's carried out sensibly.

"We could ask local authorities or even national government to ensure that these masts are sited for the benefit of the phone user and not to the detriment of people's health. At present, it is open season with mast companies fighting for sites."

His words echo those of Winchester MP Mark Oaten, who has long been campaigning for local authorities to plan the siting of mobile phone masts.

He has seen encouraging signs that this may be starting to happen: "The county council held a meeting with telephone companies two weeks ago and they will now be drawing up more details on how that approach is going to work--but the fight continues."

Elsewhere in Winchester, residents campaigning against masts planned for Byron Avenue, Kynegils Road and Lanham Lane have stepped up their fight, banding together under the acronym, HARM--Hampshire Against Residential Masts--to go to Westminster next Wednesday to lobby against government instructions to planners to discount health implications when evaluating applications for masts.

* Byron Avenue protesters have demanded a judicial review of the council decision to allow a mast near Winchester's Western School. The High Court action, taken out in the names of five pupils, is due for its first hearing on Monday, July 23rd.