A protest by families opposed to a 5G mast outside two schools was held on the site.

Those against the installation gathered yesterday (Thursday) on the green verge outside Invicta Grammar School and Valley Park School, Maidstone.

Cygnal Infrastructure plans to erect a 15m-high telecoms pole less than 10m from the schools’ boundary, on the corner of Huntsman Lane and the A20 Ashford Road.

Parents are worried about the safety of the high frequency radio waves on their children’s health.

Kate Moore, a mum with two boys at Valley Park, is leading the campaign. She said: “Quite a few parents stopped to talk to us. Some hadn’t even heard about the mast and they were quite shocked. A lot of motorists gave us a hoot in support. So it went well.”

A second protest is planned on the same spot for this Sunday, July 9, starting at 11am.

Mrs Moore, from East Malling, invited others to join them. She said: ”If you are concerned, come and take part.”

They are hoping to persuade Maidstone council to withdraw its permission or to convince the telecoms firm to seek a less controversial site.

A council planning officer said: “Health impacts are not a material planning consideration when assessing a proposal of this nature. The proposal was assessed solely upon its siting and appearance.”

This week Gordon Henderson, the MP for Sheppey and Sittingbourne, voiced his opposition to plans from the same company to site a 5G mast outside the Halfway Houses Primary School on the Isle of Sheppey, also on safety grounds. But Mr Henderson is worried more about the base equipment boxes blocking the pavement than radio emissions.

Details of the mast proposal can be found on the council’s website here. The reference number is 23/501215.

Mobile UK's Gareth Elliott said people not wanting 5G masts is a barrier and “awareness and understanding of what the technology does and can do is still very much in need of being improved.

"We need to move beyond this thought that a mobile network is just a mobile phone because the future of society is going to be a lot more about machine-to-machine and things that are connecting to each other and to networks than it is today and that's the capacity we're building,”