A fresh proposal for a 5G phone mast outside a parade of shops and homes has, once again, been met with opposition from residents.

CK Hutchison has applied for permission to install a 15m pole at Boughton Parade in Loose, just off the A229, near Domino’s.

It would be between the road and a walkway in front of the shops.

Neighbour Rebecca Wragg said: “Not only is it totally inappropriate to erect such a large installation on the only green space but the sheer size is totally out of scale to the surrounding architecture.

"Surely Maidstone has more appropriate sites that are in less populated areas.”

John Thacker said: “There ought to be a concern for the public health of people living in the area from the harmful EMF radiation that will be sent out from this monopole.

“There seems to be no concern for the health and safety of local residents and this application needs to be rejected.”

"We understand the need for 5G connectivity and in principle we are not against the installation of the necessary structures..."

Chairman of the North Loose Residents Association (NLRA), Sean Carter, said: “These people may have reduced the size and added fewer cabinets but where they intend to put it is a nice shopping parade and something like this puts a scar on the landscape.”

The NLRA held a meeting on October 13. It said: "We understand the need for 5G connectivity and in principle we are not against the installation of the necessary structures.

"However, we consider this application has not been thought through and all the appropriate alternatives have not been considered."

Cllr Brian Clark (Lib Dem), who represents South Ward on Maidstone Borough Council, said: "They have made the mast 5m lower and moved it to the hard standing floor just outside Domino's but the impact on the residents is still there.

"My perspective is even though they've made mitigations to some of the concerns raised in the previous application, for me those concerns are still the same."

CK Hutchison says the mast would conform with all radio frequency public exposure guidelines.

The new application follows a similar request made in April for a 20m mast that was refused on the grounds it would damage the look of the area, plus the lack of necessary paperwork.