Amid all the unnecessary hoo-ha regarding the alleged danger of mobile phone masts, am I the only person to have noticed that virtually none of the recently erected masts in the area - many of which are designed to look like telephone poles - has been switched on?

My experiences suggests not. Recently, I went right up close to an Orange mast on Dyke Road Avenue, Brighton. There are six such masts in a very small area (because of the very low power and hence coverage field of each one) and my phone showed only moderate signal strength. Reception in many parts of the city is appalling and since the masts are up but not on am I to believe the scaremongers such as Councillor Mark Barnard have won the day?

It's a real shame those such such as Coun Barnard are so ill-informed. Having worked in the industry, I can tell him that a mast such as the ones described emit around 0.25 Watts of radiation. Compare this with the considerable power of Whitehawk Hill TV transmitter, which emits 10,000 Watts for TV transmission. But then I suppose there would be no votes in attempting to shut off Brighton's main TV transmitter, thus depriving the area of its telly, would there, Coun Barnard?

-Spencer Payne, Baranscraig Avenue, Patcham