MOBILE phone company Three UK has published new plans for a 5G mast in Wallasey, after its last proposal was blasted as "unsightly".

The telecoms company wants to build a new 20 metre tall 5G mast on Birkenhead Road and said the technology is vital to businesses in Wirral.

Last month, Wirral Council rejected Three’s application for a 5G mast of the same height just off Conway Street in Birkenhead, arguing it would harm the local regeneration effort.

The local authority thought that mast would have been “unsightly” and “detrimental” to the character of the local area.

No decision has yet been made by the council on this application.

A spokesperson for Three, said: “5G rollout is vital for residents and business of Wirral.

“We want to offer the local area a great network experience and our planners determined that a new site was required here to deliver it.”

Explaining the choice of location, a busy residential area, for this new application Three said that 5G masts must be located among the populations they serve.

On the scale of the 20 metre high mast, Three said that 5G uses slightly shorter wavelengths than previous generations.

As a result, they do not travel as far as 2, 3 and 4G wavelengths and cannot pass into buildings as easily, meaning 5G antennae need to be taller than antennae used in previous generations.

For the same reason, and because existing sites do not always have the capacity to be upgraded, it is not possible to simply redevelop an existing mast site to accommodate the fifth generation.

5G has been a controversial topic of late, with campaigners who oppose the technology promoting conspiracy theories linking it to coronavirus without any evidence.

On May 26, a 5G mast in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, was destroyed in a fire and a video showing another 5G mast on fire in the city was shared on social media in April.

Shortly before that incident, Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson blasted 5G conspiracy theories as “bizarre” and added: “How can anyone contemplate relating putting a 5G mast up in Liverpool causes coronavirus?

“The very idea that Covid-19 was created by 5G is patently nonsense.”

Scientists and other officials, including the World Health Organisation have debunked the 5G Covid-19 theory, stating it is not possible for the virus to be transmitted by electromagnetic radiation.

Three insisted that international safety guidelines on 5G protect all the community including children.