People power prevailed when a mobile phone giant buckled under pressure and agreed to remove a phone mast near a school.

O2 will now pay up to £50,000 to remove the mast, which it put up just a few hundred metres from Merrylands School, at the junction of Westmayne and Durham Road, Laindon.

The U-turn is being hailed a victory for campaigners, who have battled since October to get the mast removed.

It comes less than two weeks after the firm launched an appeal to the Government to allow it to keep the mast, which Basildon Council said had been put up without planning permission.

O2 is now wants to put the mast in nearby Fenton Way.

Campaigner Max Aitkins, of Roosevelt Avenue, said: "It is very promising and a great step forward.

"In Fenton Way, it does not affect any residents and will not be an eyesore or near to the school."

Billericay MP John Baron, who has arranged serveral talks by the firm, said: "This is excellent news for local residents and I thank all those who have been involved in the campaign.

"O2 will now be submitting a new planning application and the decision will therefore be left up to Basildon Council.

"Local residents, councillors and myself will be consulted in the normal way."

James Stevenson, O2 community relations manager, said: "O2 has listened to the local community."