Shropshire hamlets left without phone or internet for weeks

Residents in Purlogue and Treverward, both rural communities near Clun in south west Shropshire, say they have been told they will not be reconnected until early September – a situation they have described as "completely unsatisfactory".

There is virtually no mobile phone signal in the area, meaning residents have been unable to use any modern-day communication.

The problems have been put down to a tree branch bringing down an overhead line.

A spokesman for BT Openreach said about 14 properties had been affected and engineers were trying to carry out temporary repairs to connect services while more permanent repairs were planned.

Wayne Davies of Lower Splashes in Purlogue, said residents had already been cut off for two weeks and were originally told they may be without either telephone or internet until September 3 in the isolated area.

He said: "This situation is completely unsatisfactory for everyone, but particularly for the elderly residents who have no means of communicating with the outside world, especially those that cannot drive.

"There are also young families affected with no means of making contact if anything went wrong.

"If anyone had a fire, or accident we have no means of contacting the emergency services, and can't even use a neighbours phone as everyone is cut off.

"The farm businesses in the area rely on the internet to carry out cattle registrations and submit VAT returns as well as other things and, if we have to wait until September 3, will miss the deadlines for these.

"There are also other businesses affected as they are cut off from their customers," he said.

"I personally work from home and literally cannot do my job at all without the phone and internet.

"We have to drive about two miles from my house before I can get a reliable mobile signal to even make a call."

He said it felt like going back in time 150 years, with the most sophisticated means of communication with the outside world being the post box in Purlogue.

He said: "The situation is now getting desperate.

"There might not be that many people affected, but people who live in such isolated places with no mobile signal should not be treated this way, and in fact in my view should be prioritised by BT for having no other means of communication.

"I just cannot fathom how this can take six weeks to put right such a simple problem."

A spokesman for BT Openreach said: "We have had 14 reported faults from households associated with this incident.

"Openreach engineers have been planning the works that need to be completed to restore services."

He said they were on site on Thursday afternoon to look at whether temporary repairs could be carried out to restore services while the main repair was being finalised.