EXCLUSIVE: by Sean O'Hare
AT LEAST four pupils from a primary school surrounded by 15 mobile phone masts have developed brain tumours, leading to fresh concerns over the technology's impact on health.
A pupil at a neighbouring school less than a mile away died two weeks ago from a tumour which started on his spine. The two schools use adjacent playing fields.
Angie Richards, the mother of the eldest sufferer, a 21-year-old former pupil of St Joseph's Primary School diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour in 2005, fears that it may be more than just a tragic coincidence.
Speaking from her home in Chalfont St Peter, a ten-minute walk from the Catholic primary school in Priory Road, she said: "I have been trying to find the common factor that links these four boys and the only one I can think of is St Joseph's.
"I remember about 14 years ago there was a big fuss made by the parents to stop a mast being put up in the school, because masts, even then, were suspected of causing leukaemia. Consequently the mast never went up.
"Since then though, 15 have gone up not far from the school and now we have this cluster of tumours in a localised area.
"These tumours can lie dormant for years, you just don't know how many other children might have them.
"The phone companies might say these masts are perfectly safe, but what did the cigarette companies in the 1950s say?
Of the four other cases that have come to light, two are still at St Joseph's, one was a pupil at nearby Thorpe House Independent School, Oval Way, Gerrards Cross, and the fourth is now studying at Chalfonts Community College, having left St Joseph's a few years ago.
Headteacher of St Joseph's, Mr Ali Szwagrzak, said: "I have spoken to the director of Public Health and they are now looking into this case and will get back to me with their results."
The headteacher of Thorpe House Independent School Anthony Lock confirmed that a pupil has died after developing a tumour, but said he was not aware of the investigation into a cluster of tumours in the area.
The 15 mobile phone masts fall within a 1,750 metre radius of the s
"We have many files of cancer and other illnesses a..."