A BID for a 15-metre mobile phone mast which would have "overshadowed the entrance" to the Black Country Museum and affected views from the attraction has been thrown out.

An application for the towering 5G mast near the museum entrance on Tipton Road has been turned down by planners at Dudley Council after the museum objected to the proposal.

It said it would spoil the atmosphere that it creates for visitors. 

The museum stated: "It will overshadow the museum entrance"

"It will prejudice views from the museum looking southwards.

"At 15metres high it will protrude above the skyline against the heritage assets impacting and prejudicing the atmosphere the museum portrays to visitors."

It also said cabinets at the base of the mast could affect the view onto Tipton Road for vehicles leaving the car park. 

Dudley News:

Pic: the spot where the mast would have gont (Google)

Planners at Dudley Council agreed that the mast would spoil the experience for visitors and turned down the application for prior approval.

They stated: "The proposed mast and its associated ancillary equipment by reason of its siting, excess height, and appearance, would if approved, be harmful to the adjacent heritage assets at the Black Country Living Museum and the locally distinctive character of the wider area.

"The proposal would be insensitive, unsympathetic and harmful to the significance of the heritage assets and would fail to protect and preserve their setting."

The bid from CK Hutchison Networks Ltd was for a 15-metre mast with six antennas and four equipment cabinets.

It was refused on January 31. The site is in the Castle and Priory ward.