A crane which was drafted in to build a £25 million school in Shropshire has cut off the television signal to residents leaving them with no channels, it was claimed today.

Residents living beside the Abraham Darby site in Madeley, Telford, who have forked out for Sky TV in their homes have been left with blank television screens since the crane came on site at the end of last month.

Mike Pusey, who lives beside the building site in Beech Road, said every time the crane turned in a certain direction his Sky box cut off.

Lauren Jones, spokeswoman for construction firm, Kier, said bosses were now investigating the claims in a bid to find a solution.

Mr Pusey said: “It just cuts off the channels and it’s getting annoying.

“If the crane is in a certain direction, particularly if it’s parallel with Ironbridge Road, the programmes will cut out.

“The BBC is sometimes okay, but anything outside of that cuts off completely and then they come back on again when the crane moves.

“It has affected us in the daytime but we just have to get on with it. My neighbour has also been affected by it.

“It’s an inconvenience, but at night-time it’s not so bad, because they put the crane in another direction.”

Lauren Jones added: “Kier has recently been informed that a tower crane at the Abraham Academy site may be causing some interference with television signals to local residents.

“Now that we have been informed we are looking at the possible cause of the problem to see if anything can be done about it.”

Last month residents saw the construction firm fork out to have their windows cleaned after gusts of wind carrying dirt from the site left them filthy.

Councillor Gill Green, who represents Madeley at Telford & Wrekin Council, said: “I’m not aware of this particular incident but I know the site manager Jason Powell is working very closely with residents on any concerns they have.

“It’s very important for Kier to work with residents and I believe they are doing this.”

At a public meeting held about the development last month, Mr Powell said a crane was due to arrive on site to carry out the heavier construction work.

By Jason Lavan