THIS is the shocking moment a 5G mobile phone tower became engulfed in flames after being torched by bizarre “conspiracy nuts.”

The clip was taken just metres from the 60ft mast near Chaddesden, Derby at around 8.15pm on Monday.

Emergency services scrambled to the inferno after residents living nearby reported seeing smoke and fire coming from the huge telecom poll.

It is the second time the mast has been targeted by arsonists in less than 12 months.

So far cops have released footage of the latest fire, which is thought to have been started by conspiracy thugs, as they appealed for witnesses.

A Derbyshire Police spokesman said: "We are releasing footage of a fire at a phone mast in Derby as we appeal for witnesses to come forward.

"Fire crews alerted us to the incident, off the A61 Sir Frank Whittle Road, just after 8.15pm yesterday.

"The road was closed while they dealt with the fire, and for some time this morning while the area was made safe. It has now re-opened but the footpath which goes past the mast remains closed.

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"While officers believe the mast may have been tampered with, the cause of the fire is indeterminate.

"We would like to speak to any witnesses or anyone who noticed anything suspicious just before or just after the incident."

The latest fire comes after protesters previously made ridiculous claims that the masts cause health problems – including that the technology was linked to the spread of Covid-19.

The theory first originated in March 2020 after a video filmed at a US health conference claimed Africa was not as affected by the disease because it is "not a 5G region".

It promoted UK vandals to set masts in Birmingham, Liverpool and Merseyside on fire during the first lockdown.

At the time engineers were reportedly targeted with social media users encouraging each other to destroy the masts in a Stop 5G Facebook group.

Senior minister Michael Gove slammed the conspiracy theory as "dangerous nonsense".

'CONSPIRACY NUTS'

Mr Gove claimed it was vitally important people were "knocking down this rubbish", and warned spreading it put lives at risk.

He said: "The stories that have gone about that they spread the disease – that’s just nonsense, dangerous nonsense as well."

His fury was echoed by National Medical Director of NHS England Stephen Powis.

He said: "[It's] complete and utter rubbish and the worst kind of fake news.

"The reality is that the mobile phone networks are absolutely critical to all of us particularly at a time we are asking everybody to stay home.

"I am absolutely disgusted that people would be taking action against the very infrastructure we need to respond to this health emergency.

"It is absolute and utter rubbish and I cannot condemn it in stronger terms than that."

The theory was debunked further when the World Health Organisation confirmed there were thousands of Covid-19 cases in Africa.

Celebs were also slammed for sharing the conspiracy theory, including Jason Gardiner and Callum Best, who posted similar claims that 5G could impact the immune system.

Boxer Amir Khan also released a series of bizarre videos where he blamed the coronavirus on the building of “5G towers”.

In the clips, Khan admitted to “watching a lot of videos and stuff” and said that the new tech could “make things bad”.

He even offered the NHS the use of his four-story wedding venue to help treat patients during the pandemic.

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