Huge new phone masts could be erected across the countryside as part of Government plans to eliminate mobile phone blind spots.

Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan has said she want to shake up planning restrictions to allow mobile phone networks to build ground-based masts exceeding the current cap on structures over 25 metres on public land.

The Government has launched a competition for rural areas which would see them host tests of groundbreaking 5G applications, as part of plans to spark a wider rollout of the communications technology.

Meanwhile, the £30 million 5G competition will see up to 10 rural locations chosen to run trials of 5G-related technology, which would involve superfast 5G test networks being set up.

Similar schemes have already been set up in Orkney to remotely monitor salmon fisheries and improve the efficiency of wind farms, and in Shropshire, where 5G trials have been used to help the farming industry with targeted crop-spraying and soil analysis with drones and tractors.

Ms Morgan said: "The British countryside has always been a hotbed of pioneering industries and we're making sure our rural communities aren't left behind in the digital age.

"In modern Britain, people expect to be connected wherever they are. And so we're committed to securing widespread mobile coverage and must make sure we have the right planning laws to give the UK the best infrastructure to stay ahead."

Many of our major cities already have phone masts for the new 5G networks. They can be found in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff – and Caldbeck.

The 1,016ft mast two miles outside the village on the road to Wigton,is equipped for 5G.

“The technology is moving forward all the time,” said Paul Doherty, vice-chairman of Caldbeck’s parish council. “The data speeds are staggeringly faster than 4G.”

Some places in Cumbria are still waiting for the old technology. There are parts of the county where 4G or even 3G would be a start.

Mr Doherty said: “We still have our ‘not spots’. For example tourist areas like Whinlatter have no mobile coverage whatsoever.

“The emergency service network is moving away from radio and going completely mobile. If you have an accident in the middle of nowhere you have no way of reaching them.

“They need to have the 4G network sorted out first. We still haven’t got full coverage.

“By all means let’s have 5G. But we need 100 per cent coverage before we start worrying about it.”

Penrith and the Border MP Rory Stewart has long campaigned for better broadband in his rural constituency.

He said of 5G: "I'm hugely excited at the possibility. Technology changes all the time. Ten years ago it was very difficult to deliver reliable high-speed broadband to remote areas.

"The cost of installing a fibre-optic connection to a remote farmhouse can run to more than £100,000. You can see why the government would be reluctant to fund that.

"For my constituency 5G is a very good solution, particularly if we find a solution on how to fund the masts."

Mr Stewart believes that access to superfast broadband is a right, rather than a luxury, adding: "It should be a utility, like electricity or water. I've been frustrated by how slow people have been to roll it out to remote places like Bewcastle.

"I'm pushing for Penrith and the Border to be one of the 5G trial areas. We really are the place where this needs to be tested. We are the largest and most sparsely populated constituency in England.

"Broadband is a way to remove the barriers of distance. It allows you to trade with China. It takes away advertising and marketing costs: you can put it straight online. An older person can communicate with their surgeon in Newcastle.

"Children have to do homework online. Farmers: more and more stuff has to be filed online. They can't get the broadband connections.

"I know of a high-tech business that is working on developing very novel chemical products, trying to expand into a dozen European countries. They couldn't go to a particular industrial estate because this estate didn't have superfast broadband."

Could 5G encounter the same opposition as wind turbines? The Government warns that more tall masts are going to be needed. The argument between those who want more renewable energy and those who complain that turbines spoil the countryside could be played out all over again.

But Mr Doherty maintains that 5G masts needn’t be blots on the landscape: “It can be done sympathetically. You can get masts that look like trees.”

Mr Stewart has objected to turbines in scenic parts of Cumbria because of the potentially negative impact on tourism.

He argued that the visual intrusion of 5G masts is a price worth paying:.

"They may be slightly taller than the current masts, which are 25 metres high. I think people may worry. But I'm afraid in this case it is so vital. We just have to accept that this is so important.

"It is the great unfinished revolution, probably the most important single thing for the rural economy."

In a statement, Friends of the Lake District said the technology is "essential not only for our rural communities to remain vital and viable into the future but also to ensure that the emergency services, including Mountain Rescue, can continue to operate effectively across the country."

But it cautioned: "These needs must be balanced with the essential provisions of the environment, including the health and well-being benefits we derive from the peace, tranquillity and beauty of the landscape and its many components.

"We welcome the recognition given by Nicky Morgan that the proposals for new taller communications masts will have to strike a balance between the landscape and better connectivity and respect certain areas of outstanding natural beauty. "

Douglas Chalmers, chief executive of Friends of the Lake District, added: "There is clearly a need for an improvement in connectivity both for personal use and in helping to sustain and develop our vital rural economies but there is a balance to be struck.

“We would urge the minister to ensure that the impacts of any new infrastructure are fully mitigated and the landscape of Cumbria and its areas of outstanding natural beauty afforded due respect and sensitivity.”