Phone fury after cable damaged

People in Wellington have been left without telephone lines for nearly seven days - just a few weeks after they were left without water supplies.

Town councillor Gary Davies, who is himself affected along with others in St Chad’s Close, said phones were often a “lifeline” for people.

He said they had been calling Virgin Media from their mobiles in a bid to get their lines reconnected.

It comes after hundreds of householders were left with just a trickle of water in their taps for up to three days in December, after Severn Trent engineers hit a problem while repairing underground pipes.

Mr Davies said he believed they had once again become the victim of utility works engineers who had caused the problem as they were digging up the road.

He said: “I am absolutely livid. We have no television, phone or computer. I have been trying two or three times a day but have been unable to get any sense out of Virgin Media.

“What bothers me is that, although I have got a council mobile, people are still ringing my home number because they have always contacted me in that way. They must be wondering where I am.”

Mr Davies said: “In the last month we’ve had the gas board digging trenches and the electricity companies down here and now it’s the water board.”

Nobody was available to comment from Severn Trent. Virgin Media spokeswoman, Rebecca Burke, said: “A senior manager from Virgin Media is on site co-ordinating the construction work required to repair the damage caused to our network. We aim to have full service restored by tomorrow evening.”