ANGRY motorists are claiming mobile phone equipment sited on the roof of Prestwich's Longfield Suite is interfering with car alarms - and even leaving them locked out of their vehicles.

Now they are demanding immediate action by Dolphin Telecommunications and fear for the security of vehicles left in nearby car parks in Rectory Lane and Fairfax Road.

There has been a spate of incidents in the last week. Mr Phil Steels, manager of Percival's Bookstore in the precinct, is warning people to be alert.

He is planning to leave leaflets on car windscreens explaining the situation and is set start a petition against the equipment. Local police will also increase patrols in the area.

"Something needs to be done about it," said Mr Steels. "Dolphin has said it is bound to cause problems with alarms and we should have the frequency re-tuned. But why should we have our alarms re-tuned? It's their equipment and nobody wanted it there anyway.

"If it is doing this to our cars then what is it doing to our health? It is not just coincidental that 90 per cent of people's alarms are playing up."

Staff at Prestwich Medical Centre and the Longfield Suite have also experienced problems. Mr Steels added: "If my alarm is not on, the immobiliser stops it being taken away, but it doesn't stop it being broken into. If this happens I have to pay excess insurance and I'm sure Dolphin wouldn't offer to pay this."

Mr Neil Simon, of Hillside Avenue, Whitefield, was shopping at the precinct when, he claims, the equipment interfered with his car alarm, causing the immobilising system to lock him out of the vehicle.

He experienced the same problem in the Fairfax Road car park, but there were no problems at the nearby St Mary's CP School.

"I had to get people to help me push the car out of the car park," he said.

"A lot of people have had this problem and something should be done. It must be affecting people in a certain area, including residents.

"I can't park there again which means I won't be able to shop there."

The equipment is currently the subject of a wrangle between Dolphin and planning bosses. Bury Council says the installation does not conform with the original outline plan and is reviewing a new planning application from Dolphin.

A spokesman for Dolphin confirmed they had recently started transmitting from the equipment and were monitoring the situation.

However, he stressed the company used licensed frequencies and claimed the problem was with poor quality key-activated car alarms which should be re-tuned to a different frequency.

The Radio Activated Key Entry Committee (RAKE) has been established to investigate such problems. For information, contact its members, the RAC, AA or Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.