Pensioners are fighting for the removal of a mobile phone mast being put up in front of their Burgess Hill homes.

The mast for Orange, which will be 10 metres high, is just 30ft from flats in Manor Court, Junction Road.

The base has been built but the mast itself has not yet been erected.

Many of the pensioners in the sheltered accommodation look out directly over the mast.

Kath McNeall, 83, who has lived at Manor Court for almost three years, said: "I would like to put the chairman of Orange on television and ask him a few questions about how he would like it outside his bedroom.

"How would he like to be house-bound and see that thing out of the window?"

The mast was rejected by Mid Sussex District Council last year because councillors felt it was not a suitable site.

But Orange appealed against the decision and won.

Although the site of the mast appears to be part of the home, it is owned by West Sussex County Council.

Mrs McNeall said: "We have all protested and so have all our relatives. My windows look straight on to it. We have signed petitions, in the shops, in here, everywhere.

"It seems very close to us. There are lots of fields around which they could have used." Another resident, Margaret Moysen, 87, who spoke at the original planning meeting, said: "We don't want it and we are trying to get it taken down.

"We sit out there in the summer. We are right on top of it. It is terrible that it is so close to the building."

Mrs Moysen's son Mike, 59, said: "They have attacked the people who are least able to defend themselves. That's why it is so outrageous.

"I can't stand by as a member of the community and let them get away with it."

New Downland Housing Association, which runs the retirement scheme, is challenging the decision to put up the mast.

A spokeswoman said: "We have, through the planning stages, objected to the erection of a mast on land in front of Manor Court.

"We have been acutely aware of the objections of our residents and have sought to support them, particularly as Manor Court is a retirement scheme and residents should not be worried at a time when they are seeking to enjoy their retirement."

She said: "Orange has continued to ignore our views and proceeded to erect this mast contrary to the sensitivities of the residents."

A spokeswoman for Orange said: "Further to confirmation from West Sussex County Council that our proposed transmitter site at Junction Road, Burgess Hill, is on highways land, Orange has notified the council of its intentions to proceed with the site."