CALLS have been made for a councillor to resign after a phone mast “debacle”.

Dennis Willetts (Con, West Bergholt and Eight Ash Green) said portfolio holder for planning Lyn Barton should resign after the council missed a deadline to reject plans for a mobile phone mast in Lexden Road, Colchester.

Residents and parents at nearby schools campaigned against the O2 mast, which the phone giant planned to put up at the junction of Lexden Road and Norman Way.

In January, the planning committee decided to reject the mast, but last month members were told it had been approved by default, because officers had made an error with the date.

At a planning meeting on Thursday, Mr Willetts said: “Essentially there should be confidence in the planning process and this whole debacle undermines that confidence.

“I suggest the responsibility for the smooth running of planning rests with the portfolio holder, in whose remit planning rests.

“I believe this debacle is so bad there should be a resignation – I feel the portfolio holder has failed to make the department work well.”

The committee also heard from Vincent Pearce, the council’s head of environmental and protective services, who said there had been a human error as well as a problem with their processes.

He said: “I want to give a personal and unreserved apology to the members of the planning committee and to all the people who objected to the mast.

“I wish to make it clear the committee believed it had time in which to formally resist the mast.

“The fault sits with the planning service and not with the committee.”

He added the council was now negotiating with O2 to see if alternative sites could be found for the mast.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Barton said: “There was a human error within the planning department and I stand by what Vince Pearce said.

“He made it clear no councillors were responsible for this and in fact took full responsibility for it himself.

“As a result, we’re going to be working closely with the Lexden councillors and with O2 to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“I have seen the results of the investigation, out early next week, and we will review how we do things.”

Anne Turrell, leader of the council, added her support after the meeting.

“I have every confidence in Lyn and in the job she does as a portfolio holder,” she said. “This incident probably doesn’t make people see the council well, but no one is perfect.”