Campaigners who successfully fought plans to erect a mobile phone mast in north Finchley have been left furious by the decision to install the antenna after all.

Planning permission for a 12.5-metre mast in Woodhouse Road was initially refused by Barnet Council’s planning committee in May last year.

But network operators O2 and Vodafone appealed the decision and the Bristol-based Planning Inspectorate has since overturned the borough council’s decision.

The move has left some 200 residents who battled to stop the initial application angry and disappointed.

Mother-of-two Jessica Williams, who does not use a mobile herself due to a fear of health risks, believes scores of people who signed a petition against the mast have been ignored.

The Woodhouse Road resident said: “It was as if they didn’t even look at our arguments. I am very upset that all the work we did was for nothing.

“We were not even told it had been granted. I’ve been so upset I’ve not been able to eat properly.”

Opponents to the signal transmitter are concerned the mast’s proximity to Woodhouse College and residential streets could pose health risks for those living and studying there.

Miriam Abdalle, a mother-of-one of Woodhouse Road, said: “They shouldn’t place these things here in the middle of our children, in the middle of our homes. We will continue fighting, even when they put it up.”

The campaigners now plan to carry out their own independent health review of the mast in a last-gasp attempt to fight the plans.

Mrs Williams, who used to suffer headaches when she lived next to a similar mast at a previous address, added: “I just want them to know it is going to affect our lives. They can’t say something is safe when history doesn’t show that. They might find in 25 years time that it is an issue and I’m not willing to take that risk.”