PROTESTERS set up a permanent camp at the proposed site of a mobile phone mast and are vowing to stay to disrupt work.

Residents of Talywain, near Pontypool, prevented Vodafone workmen from entering the site owned by Talywain Rugby Club when they arrived on June 6.

The campaigners say they are concerned about health risks and have kept an all- night vigil, watching from their homes opposite in Emlyn Terrace, since they saw off contractors in a peaceful protest. Now they have set up a permanent base at the site amid fears that Vodafone will return this week.

Campaigner Kathy Gullick said: "If they are coming back this week residents have decided to be there to be ready for them. "They have erected a wooden shed with tables and chairs and it will be permanently manned.

"On Monday night we had lots of people there, sleeping in the shed, on the ground or in their cars."

A spokeswoman for Vodafone said workers were not due to return to Talywain any time soon.

She said: "We have got no plans to go into the site this week, and no plans to go next week either. We need to reassess the situation and will make arrangements at a later date."

But Ms Gullick said campaigners would stay at the site anyway. "The residents will not walk away from this situation and will do whatever is necessary to make sure they are heard. There will be a constant presence at the site."

Gwent police officers met campaigners on Friday to discuss their actions. A police spokeswoman said: "Our role will be to maintain a peaceful protest and ensure the safety of those involved, including protesters and campaigners and to prevent as much disruption as possible to local businesses and residents."

Residents are calling on Talywain Rugby Club to rethink its decision to lease land to Vodafone for the mast.

It's understood the club stands to benefit financially. The trustees have declined to comment.

Vodafone has sought to reassure people's health concerns and said exposure levels to radio frequency fields from masts were "extremely low - between 1,000 and a million times less than a person gets from a mobile phone."