AN application for a mobile phone mast has been turned down - because planners fear it will become a magnet for yobs.

It is believed to be the first time in Greater Manchester a mast has been rejected on the grounds of law and order.

The 11ft-high mast was to be erected near a road junction in Rochdale which has already been blighted by anti-social behaviour.

Pennines Township planning sub-committee members were told police had been called out nine times in recent weeks to deal with youths causing a nuisance and a bus shelter had also been smashed up.

One resident said she had had problems with youths hanging around her house and who had damaged her partner's bike and her car.

She said she would have difficulty selling her house with the mast outside.

"The residents of Halifax Road can see nice hills and they don't want to see a 11ft-high mast with boxes covered in graffiti," she said.

A representative of the T Mobile phone company, which had submitted the application, said every step would be taken to minimise the view of the mast, which would be slippery, making it impossible to climb.

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