A PLANNING bungle has paved the way for mobile phone company O2 to put up a mast on the outskirts of Watchet despite being refused permission for the controversial development. West Somerset Council missed the 56-day deadline for determining the application from the company by a day. But because O2 - formed in 2001 following the demerger from British Telecom of its former mobile phone business BT Wireless - received the refusal notice on the 57th day after it submitted its application, it has been able to construct the mast and base station on a site just off a public footpath at Parsonage Farm. And irate neighbours have been told by the council's planning manager Christine Miles the authority is powerless to stop the development. "It's unbelievable," said Rosemary Rutter, whose home in nearby Brendon Road faces the site. "This is bureaucracy at its very worst. We have asked for a complaints form from the council but it won't change anything. "I have been told it was a computer error but that is not a good excuse. "It is all the more difficult to accept because the mast is there by a mistake. "It is disguised as a telegraph pole but it dominates the landscape - it makes everything surrounding it look like matchsticks." O2 initially submitted a bid to construct three antennas mounted on a 15-metre slimline monopole in May last year, which was refused by the council on visual impact grounds in June. A new application in July, which reduced the height of the mast to 12.5-metres, also received a thumbs-down but the late arrival of the refusal notice led to O2 starting work on the site last week. Mrs Rutter said she had been told by Mrs Miles that other planning authorities in Somerset had also fallen foul of the 56-day deadline and in fact O2 obtained 'deemed consent' for a mast in Shoreditch Road, Taunton, in similar circumstances last summer, after a refusal notice from Taunton Deane Borough Council failed to arrive within the legislated determination period. "You would have thought West Somerset would have been a bit more on the ball and would have learnt from the mistakes of other authorities," said Mrs Rutter. "It's just ridiculous." O2 spokeswoman Angela Johnson said the determination period was "very strict". "The council can email or fax us but if we don't hear within the timescale then we take it that we have planning consent - that is the law." Ms Johnson said the company sent out a rolling programme of its plans for new masts to local authorities each October to ensure they were aware of forthcoming applications. She said investigations had shown that there was a need for better coverage for the Watchet area and the Parsonage Farm development represented a significant investment by the company. "These masts are very expensive and cost around £250,000 and this will one will definitely improve coverage." West Somerset Council spokeswoman Stacey Beaumont said in a statement: "Regretfully, the council's intention to refuse the O2 mast on grounds of visual impact arrived too late due to a clerical error and the five objectors to the mast have been informed of the situation by letter. "Procedure has been reviewed to prevent this happening again." Photo: Steve Guscott.