A phone mast disguised as a tree in a Scottish farm has been likened to a "gigantic toilet brush" by bemused residents.
Council officers granted planning permission last June for the 25-metre high mast to be built near Dundas Home Farm in South Queensferry, despite more than 20 official complaints from locals.
Critics say attempts to hide the structure with greenery has backfired as it stands more than double the height of the adjacent trees and resembles "God's lavvy brush", according to one resident.
Complaints lodged against Edinburgh Council reveal locals feared the mast would have a "detrimental" impact on the 200-year-old Dundas Castle, which lies a 20-minute walk away.
One resident said: "Oh dear it definitely looks nothing like a tree and very much like a gigantic toilet brush" while another commented: "I think the mast alone would have looked better."
Another commented: "God's lavvy brush". And another joked: "They could put baubles on it at Christmas."
One objection lodged against the council read: "The application is pretty much identical to the application that was rejected in 2020 by the planning authority other than trying to disguise this mast structure as an extremely tall tree that would seem out of place in the area.
"It would appear that the height of this mast is considerably taller than existing surrounding trees and would be observed from local properties within the listed area, including the livery and properties within the listed Dundas Home Farm."
"This would have a substantial adverse impact on the surrounding area. There would be an impact on wildlife with bat activity observed in the barn store 40 metres from the proposed site."
Another objection said the attempt to blend the structure in with nearby trees was rendered useless by the "flashing light on top of the mast".
The structure is a replacement mast serving both EE and Three's customers and was built by Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL).
A spokesman for MBNL said: "The planning authority accepted the operators' proposals for a tree-styled mast to reduce the visual impact whilst ensuring critical mobile coverage will continue to be available to customers in the area, and accordingly the design was approved."
Edinburgh Council has been approached for comment.
