‘A French farmer has won his battle to temporarily turn off a 4G antenna after he claimed it was damaging his cow herd’s health.

The administrative court in Clermont-Ferrand ordered the two month switch-off after Frédéric Salgues, a farmer in Haute-Loire, said he suspected that it was damaging his herd’s health.

The court stated: "It is appropriate to order the temporary cessation of the operation of this antenna for a period of two months, taking into account its general impact, with monitoring, by the judicial expert, of the behaviour of the herd, and of the dairy cows in particular, during this period."

Mr Salgues said that since the antenna’s installation in July 2021 – 200 metres away from his farm in Mazeyrat-d'Allier (Haute-Loire) – around 40 of his normally-200-strong herd had died, and milk production had decreased by 15 to 20% within days of the antenna being switched on.

He claimed: “There are no medical elements that could [otherwise] explain this brutal drop in milk production.”

Philippe Molhérat, the mayor of Mazeyrat-d'Allier, who had previously authorised the antenna’s installation, testified in favour of the farmer.

He said that he feared 'a catastrophe on a human level' and that his 'concerns' were growing for the 1500 inhabitants of his village.‘

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