A MOBILE phone mast in Little Sutton can be replaced following a knife-edge vote.

Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council's planning committee had voted 3-3 on the scheme and the chairman's casting vote decided it should go ahead.

Vodafone submitted the plan to replace a 12m-high telecommunication mono-pole mast and equipment cabinets at Little Sutton Railway Station.

The exact site of the pole is at the back of the build-er's yard next to the station. Access is off the former British Gas depot on Station Road.

The new antennae will be slightly lower than the original, and the compound enlarged to 3m x 3m, with two equipment cabinets and a meter cabinet.

Vodafone said other sites had been considered, including the neighbouring Vauxhall Club boxing gym, Little Sutton Car Centre, the United Utilities site in Glencoe Road and the golf club site nearby. But it found problems with most of these.

A council report said: 'It may be unrealistic to expect them to consider alternative sites much further away when the existing site is part of their existing system.

'Existing tall structures capable of accommodating telecom equipment, thereby avoiding the need for new masts, are not that common in parts of town such as Little Sutton.'

But it added: 'Some upgrading and improvement since the site was established in the early 1990s might reasonably be expected.'

Planners allayed any potential health concerns about the mast by saying Vodafone has submitted the necessary safety certificates.