Residents are celebrating after controversial plans to dump a 12.5-metre high phone mast in the centre of a busy village were turned down.

Representatives from EE were meeting with members of Tiptree Parish Council this week to find a solution when both parties found out the proposal for the mast in Church Road had been refused.

Steve Bays, chairman of the parish council, said members were delighted.

He said: “I think we all realised a mast does need to go in Tiptree but it needs to be in the right place.

“The people from EE actually found out about the decision on the way to the meeting and we found out during that it had been refused.

“Now we need to work together to find somewhere appropriate for it that doesn’t have a detrimental affect on the way the village looks.

“It is especially important at the moment when we are spending so much energy on creating the neighbourhood plan.”

Telecoms giant EE originally investigated 23 sites in Tiptree where a phone mast could be built.

But it opted to put it in one of the village’s busiest streets after they were unable to track down the landowner’s to ask for their permission and consult with them.

Some of the 23 alternative sites which the company originally investigated are in Maypole Road, Tiptree fire station, an existing BT repeater pole in Station Road, Maldon Road, Venn Farm and Colchester United’s training centre at Florence Park.

The council and EE are now working together to find new possible sites for the mast.

Mr Bays said: “There were a number of people who own sites EE was interested in and they simply couldn’t get hold of them to speak to them about it.

“So we are going to look into who owns them and let them know who those owners are so they can get in touch.

“We could also maybe suggest some more alternatives for them to look at.

“Another thing we are trying to get EE to think about is whether they need one big mast or whether several smaller ones will work for the area.

“We’re not quite sure how it works so we will be looking into that with them.

“At the end of the day we would rather EE talks to us rather than try and push these things through.

“This is better for everyone at the end of the day.”

Colchester Council refused the planning application this week.

Officers said the design did not fit in with the area.