Managers at the Southampton Princess have joined the fight to stop the construction of a controversial cellular tower.

Hotel bosses have responded to a petition by scores of their staff, who voiced fears their families could be subjected to radiation.

The tower is due to be built on hotel-owned land near Faraway Cottages in Warwick -- yards from an accommodation complex for Princess employees.

The radiation fears could also lead to a dramatic stand-off between builders and residents today, as construction work is due to start on the 40-foot mast.

The showdown will come if angry neighbours try to block access to the tower site, with cement trucks ready to roll in this morning.

But Southampton Princess General Manager Norm Mastalir told The Royal Gazette that hotel owners Canadian Pacific had now instucted a top lawyer to represent staff concerns.

He said Bermuda Digital Communications had legal rights to build the tower because all Government licences were in place and a lease had already been signed with previous owners Princess Hotels.

But he said last night: "Our business depends highly on our employees and any time we have an issue that's of concern to our employees, it automatically becomes a concern to us.

"Clearly, the people who live at Faraway Cottages are very upset about this and they have presented a strongly-worded petition and they would like to see us do something about it.

"The perfect scenario would be to find a way to keep everybody happy but I don't know if that's possible.

"We have asked BDC if the work could be postponed until we could review the situation, but they have a lease and they can go ahead under ther terms of that lease. It seems to be a very difficult situation.'' Appleby Spurling and Kempe lawyer Jai Pachai is now examining Canadian Pacific's case files.

BDC General Manager Michael Leverock said concrete foundations for the tower would be laid today.

But he said builders from sub-contractors Salisbury Construction had already been blocked by neighbours.

He added: "That is an issue which is between us and the neighbours and not the hotel. We are going ahead with our plans.'' Police were called to Faraway last week when two residents parked cars in front of their houses, stopping cement trucks from getting to an access route cut through woodland towards the tower site.

BDC placed a full-page advertisement in The Royal Gazette last week saying the CellularOne antenna would conform to worldwide safety standards set by the US Federal Communications Commission.

But Communities Against Radiation Emissions have lobbied against the tower plans for months.

And CARE spokesman Steve Thomson said the Environmental Protection Agency did not agree with FCC emissions standards.

It has also emerged that: the European Parliament is considering new laws proposing tower radiation should be 10,000 times weaker than the limit recommended in Bermuda; Sir Richard Doll, the British scientist who found the first link between smoking and cancer, has backed calls for a radiation study in the UK; the World Health Organisation has commissioned its own inquiry into cellular tower radiation; a range of other experts, including State University of New York professor David Carpenter, say it would be "irresponsible'' to position the towers near young children or in residential areas.

Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb said Government had no right to block the new tower, which would be Bermuda's 38th cellular mast.