WORRIED campaigners have asked health chiefs about the safety of the latest generation of mobile phone technology.

The health chiefs told them they would follow law, policy and guidance including advice from Public Health England, a Government agency.

Campaigners opposed to 5G (fifth generation) wireless technology had asked Brighton and Hove City Council to follow the “precautionary principle” after submitting a petition signed by 2,240 people last year.

At the council’s health and wellbeing board, Brighton and Hove’s director of public health Alistair Hill said Public Health England provided advice on this subject.

He said exposure levels should comply with the guidelines published by International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

Mr Hill said peer-reviewed research had considered both the long and short-term effects of 5G technology and concluded there were “no adverse health effects”. He said: “We recognise there is ongoing research and keep ourselves up to date within public health in Brighton and Hove and will remain so.

“We absolutely recognise there is concern among some of our residents about this.”

The council’s assistant director for development and regeneration Max Woodford told the board the council could not stop the spread of 5G from a planning perspective “even if it wanted to”.

He said the council could object to specific sites based on design and location – for example, those close to a “heritage asset” or on a listed building – but otherwise it could not use planning policy to oppose 5G.

Green councillor Sarah Nield asked about the precautionary principle, the effect on insects and why 20-metre masts were turned down at sites near Hove Park, Arundel Street and at the corner of Roedean Road and Marine Drive last year.

Mr Woodford said plans for the masts were refused based on existing rules because they caused “visual clutter” and harmed the character of the area.

He said he had no information about the effect on wildlife. Council lawyer Elizabeth Culbert said the precautionary principle had been applied by Frome and Glastonbury town councils but neither had responsibility for planning and were not confined by the National Planning Policy Framework.

Brighton is home to Britain’s first non-university-led 5G testbed which was set up in 2017 to link businesses and universities and to try to enable cutting-edge technological innovation.

It is one of the projects backed by the Greater Brighton Economic Board, which includes the council among its member organisations.

The board is also backing the expansion of full-fibre connections, public community wifi and the “internet of things” such as smart traffic management, all of which involve 5G technology.

The Greater Brighton Economic Board was given a progress update on a digital strategy aimed at modernising the city’s nfrastructure.

Resident Thorston Manderlay asked who would be held accountable for any future health issues affecting individuals or groups of people related to 5G.