Councillors and campaigners clashed on Monday night over a suggested rollout of super-fast mobile internet 5G in Stroud.

Members of the Stop 5G campaign group shouted at Stroud Town councillors to “do their homework” from the gallery in a council meeting in the Subscription Rooms.

Councillor Alice Campbell (Central) said in the meeting she felt “bullied” to support a motion to refuse consent to the rollout of 5G in the town.

5G is the fifth-generation of mobile internet connectivity promising much faster data download and upload speeds, wider coverage and more stable connections.

Opponents to the service however are concerned about its rollout, arguing the radiation puts human at risk.

Public Health England (PHE) has previously said it does not expect 5G to impact on people’s health.

According to a council document, none of the testbed areas for 5G are in Gloucestershire.

Campaigners claimed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service there is “overwhelming” evidence 5G harms health outcomes.

The town council earlier this year pledged to become completely carbon neutral by 2030 and to where possible encourage more sustainable transport, reduction in energy use, and the production and the consumption of locally-sourced food.

Members voted overwhelmingly in favour of asking Stroud MP David Drew to lobby the Government for research into the carbon footprint of “smart” technology including 5G.

Opposing the motion, councillor Alan Sage (Farmhouse/Paganhill) said: “Radiation use in mobile phones is completely different to nuclear radiations which are used in power stations and nuclear weapons.”

One member of the public gallery interupted Mr Sage and said “are you having a laugh?” while another said “rubbish”.

Mr Sage continued: “I am not worried about the health effects of 5G, I do not believe others should be either.

“Having read some of the claims coming out of the anti-5G campaign I can see why people are worried. Much of the campaign literature has more in common, to my mind, with conspiracy theories than scientific argument.

“This is misrepresentation of evidence and pure fabrication from campaigners to further their agenda.”

One member of the public gallery, Joe St Clair, told the LDRS after the meeting: “I was disappointed. More with the ignorance of some of the people on the front table, claiming there is a lack of evidence without giving any justification.

“When in fact there is overwhelming evidence, and that most experts in electromagnetic frequencies are saying ‘the debate is over’. There is no question, this harms all cellular life-forms, from bacteria to humans.

Delny Britton said: “This issue is not going to go away. We have no evidence this technology is safe and we need to stop immediately so we can assess what exactly we are letting ourselves in for.”

Stroud Town Council has no legal powers to grant or refuse the rollout of 5G.

Councillors voted to refuse giving no consent to the rollout 5G by a majority of four.

Town council mayor Kevin Cranston said: “We are a small town council and all our councillors are volunteers and we simply don’t have the resources or the legal authority to carry out such research or stop the roll-out of 5G,” said Mayor Cranston.

“We can lobby our local MP to question the Government about what level of energy will be needed to power this new technology that is now in every part of our lives. Climate change is the most critical environmental issue at this time and we must focus on what we can do at grassroots level.

“As a small council we do punch above our weight and have ambitious goals concerning the environment and the well-being of the town.

“But it is essential that we focus on those things that we can influence and change. For example we are about to become the first parish council in the UK to sign up to an ambitious new charter with a leading environmental charity.”