Coronavirus: Derby 5G phone mast set on fire

Shelley Atkins saw the mast had been damaged while out walking

Police are investigating after a 5G mast was deliberately set on fire only days after it was put up.

Firefighters quickly put out the blaze in Scarborough Rise in Breadsall, Derby, just before 02:00 BST.

Shelley Atkins, who saw the damaged mast while out walking, said her road had to be closed while engineers erected the mast last week.

Attacks on 5G masts have been fuelled by a conspiracy theory wrongly linking 5G and coronavirus.

There has been a rise in the number of attacks on engineers and in one case razor blades were hidden behind anti-5G posters on telegraph poles.

Claims that the wireless technology helps spread the virus have been condemned by scientists.

A Derbyshire Police spokesman said: "We believe the fire was started deliberately and we are investigating."

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