People are more concerned about children being bullied or exposed to pornography through mobile phones than the health effects of using the devices.

An exclusive survey for The Times, conducted by Populus, indicated that almost 70 per cent of respondents are very worried about children being bullied through their mobile phones, while only a quarter are very concerned about potential health risks from using mobiles.

This is despite warnings from experts such as Sir William Stewart, former chairman of the Health Protection Agency and the National Radiological Protection Board, who recommended in 2005 that 9 to 14-year-olds should make only short, essential calls, use text messaging where possible and buy low-emission models.

Last week's announcement that a Hello Kitty phone is to be sold in the UK sparked fears that younger children might start using mobile phones.

Disney announced plans for a Mickey Mouse mobile phone service aimed at 8 to 14-year-olds two years ago, only to abandon the idea shortly afterwards.

A phone in the shape of a teddy bear, which was aimed at four-year-olds and programmed to call only four numbers, failed to capture the market.

Researchers from the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research programme said last year that mobile phone use in adults did not pose a health risk in the short term, but identified a “slight hint” of increased cancer risk in people who have been using mobile phones for more than a decade. The unit is conducting a £6 million study on the effects of mobile phone use on children.

Government advertising campaigns about the dangers of using mobile phones while driving appear to have been effective. Britons are more worried about this issue than any other, with 84 per cent of respondents expressing concern about it.

Consumers view Virgin Mobile as the most socially and environmentally conscious of the UK's mobile phone brands. Larissa Persons, head of strategy at Good Business, a website that promotes corporate responsibility, said this was the effect of well-publicised environmental policies at other Virgin brands such as Virgin Atlantic, the airline, which has announced that it will launch trials of aircraft run on biofuels rather than oil.

“The Virgin Mobile effect comes largely out of the halo factor from the overall Virgin brand, which often has management speaking out on environmental and social issues. A powerful corporate brand can give this halo factor to other branches of the business,” she said.

Overall consumer sentiment towards the Virgin brand fell by a point this month, according to the poll. This is possibly because perceptions of the brand had improved while Sir Richard Branson was in the running to take over Northern Rock, the stricken bank.

Vodafone, the other mobile phone company in the survey, dropped by four points.

The Populus poll for The Times also records consumer sentiment towards key brands such as Google and Disney. Respondents were asked to rate how they viewed the companies' general behaviour and their products, and whether they would go out of their way to buy or use them.

Consumer perception of Google, the online search engine, dropped three points from April, to 73 out of 100.

Supermarkets Tesco and Marks & Spencer also fell by four points, possibly reflecting concern about rising food prices.