Mobile phone masts and power lines are a threat to villages in north Essex, a new report claims.

The Countryside Agency also says question marks hang over the conversion of historic farm buildings to houses - something which changes the character of an area - and the congestion at popular tourist sites, with pressure to accommodate cars and coaches.

In a separate report on the Essex coastal area, it calls for the region's abandoned industrial sites to be returned to natural landscape and for a return of cattle and sheep.

The agency is responsible for advising government and taking action on issues relating to the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of our surroundings.

The study looks at the state and future of the English countryside, and the agency's David Vose says: "This is a report which we hope can help other people - from county planners right down to individual householders - make decisions about where they live that will blend together and improve Essex for the future.

"It's intended to be a foundation for what happens next."

The report on the coastal area also says that since 1945 increasing demand for waste disposal sites and spoil heaps had changed the character of the landscape. Dredging was also a major issue.

It says extensive drainage and fertilisation of the marshes for arable cropping and improved pasture, and to extend sites for industry, had led to widespread fragmentation and loss of 64 per cent of the area's traditional wetland marsh.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.