THE Winsford community will suffer if plans to site a mobile telephone mast on land close to Winsford United Football Club are given the go ahead.

That's according to club chairman Mark Loveless, who is disappointed with a decision by Vodafone to submit an application for a mast on Wharton Road - less than a year after plans to site one on the grounds of Barton Stadium were turned down.

The refusal of the original application to site the mast inside Barton Stadium cost Winsford United around £50,000 and prevented the club from going ahead with a redevelopment of facilities at the ground.

Mr Loveless said: "This was a real blow for the Winsford community because we would have used the money to improve our facilities that could have been used by many people.

"We had plans to build an all weather pitch and improve floodlights so it would have been beneficial for us as well as people living in Winsford."

Although the latest application to erect the mast on Wharton Road has not yet been approved, Mr Loveless is at a loss to explain why the proposed mast at the stadium was turned down.

He said: "Vodafone came to me and said it was an ideal site so I just don't know why it was turned down.

"I think this goes back to the town council's old vendetta against us from years ago.

"If the new application is given approval the £50,000 will go to the council and be spent on roundabouts and things like that.

"If we got it then we would have spent it on sports facilities.

"We are all very disappointed."