Birds and bees are hit by phone waves

First it was bees. Now it is birds and other insects, say reports describing how they are being thrown off-course by "electrosmog". Some even claim that entire migrating flocks can find themselves off-course when faced with mobile phone masts or pylons.

Tory councillor Debi Jones from Hightown, Southport, said: "It seems strange that these stories are only now coming out and appear to coincide with the proliferation of mobile phone masts."

This is the latest development in the debate over the reasons bee populations are declining. It was prompted by a recent report in the IoS about new evidence that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, thus preventing them from flying back to their hives.

The revelation that bees do not rely solely on the sun to find their way around - but instead have an internal compass in their stomachs that helps them navigate using the Earth's electromagnetic fields - means electrosmog could, it is now thought, throw this internal compass off course.