MONEY talks when it comes to allowing controversial mobile phone masts to be installed in Enfield.

The council has admitted that it makes around £200,000 a year from allowing telecom firms to erect masts on its land.

In a written response to a question from Tory councillor Jonathan French, Cllr Verna Horridge, chair of the planning committee, said: 'Our main criterion is currently to maximise income generation from appropriate proposals received from the aerial companies.

'Under current planning legislation, masts erected on the highway are 'permitted development' and do not normally require planning permission.'

The Independent revealed last week how councils across the country were investigating the safety of phone masts and some had banned them from school sites.

Mobile phone masts have been linked with health scares in the past including cancer-related illnesses, though a link has not yet been proved.

The council reaps some £200,000 a year income from a total of 34 aerials which are on council-owned property.

Permission has been sought for 53 masts in the past five years and a council spokesman said it was 'fair to assume that there will be a similar number over the next five years'.

Cllr Horridge said that the authority acts within National Radiological Protection Board regulations.

She said that at present the council only has the power to withhold permission for masts on the grounds of 'location and appearance'.

She added: 'The council, in consultation with its aerial consultant and senior services engineer, ensures that the design of each system exceeds both current and proposed requirements of the NRPB.

'These systems are used extensively all over the world and the criteria imposed by the UK, as far as safety is concerned, are higher than most.

'I am not aware of any current proposals to introduce a moratorium or other restrictions in regard to aerial installations.'