Mobile phone masts: now our police are getting sick

We can't help feeling that we're building a major health problem with our networks of mobile phone masts, and we fear the problem will worsen as the G3 masts start appearing.

One example of this advanced technology is the TETRA mobile network, which is being introduced to all 53 of the UK's police forces. It is an advanced digital network that should be fully operational by next spring, at a cost of £2.9 billion to the UK government.

As usual, the network has been introduced with all the standard scientific platitudes that it is perfectly safe. But early reports back 'from the field' suggest otherwise.

Six people based at one police station in Norfolk have all reported sick with a debilitating health condition since a TETRA mast was installed just yards from them. The police staff has suffered bouts of dizziness and severe headaches, and it's been as bad for the 25 local residents who also happen to live near the mast. Repeated nosebleeds, disturbed sleep and skin problems, especially among the children, have been reported.

The police staff has been warned not to make public their health concerns. A similar ban was imposed on one policeman, Neil Dring, who died from cancer of the oesophagus, which developed after he had been using his TETRA handset.

These incidents are not isolated examples. Some reports suggest that hundreds of policemen and women have complained of deterioration in their health since TETRA was introduced in their area.

(Source: Daily Telegraph, 14 August 2004).