Major fault cuts off almost 100 Oswestry telephone customers
Almost 100 people in Oswestry are without telephone landlines after a major fault in an underground cable.
The problems affecting homes in Oswestry could be being caused by the wet weather according to Openreach, which maintains and installs the local telephone network.
Among those who have been without their landlines for the past two weeks is an 82-year old woman whose phone is her link to family and friends.
The woman's daughter Tessa Herrell, who lives in Surrey, said she had been unable to telephone her mother for a fortnight and has had to rely on relatives living close by to check on her.
"She has a mobile phone but does not like using it," said Mrs Herrell. "I do worry about her."
"My mother has a stairlift to get upstairs and I do worry that she might trip and be unable to call for help. Vulnerable people should not have to wait for such a long time to get their telephone link repaired."
Mrs Herrell said she had been assured that her mother would be treated as a priority case.
A spokesman for Openreach said the problems affecting 90 customers were caused by a fault on a section of underground cable – probably due to an excessive amount of water getting into the cable.
He said repairs had been "time-consuming" and apologised to those affected for the inconvenience.
"Engineers from Openreach are working hard to replace the section of cable and restore services as quickly as possible.
"Unfortunately the repair is quite time-consuming. Temporary traffic lights had to be put up to enable the engineers to work safely. The first part of the repair was hampered due to unforeseen blockages underground.
"Specialist equipment had to be used to clear the blockages before engineers could start the next stage of work, which is now complete.
"Openreach apologies for any inconvenience caused and would like to stress that every effort is being made to restore services to the 90 or so customers affected - who may take their service from different providers - as quickly as possible."
The spokesperson said that Openreach advised anyone affected to contact their service provider to see if they could divert incoming calls to an alternative number while the repairs were being carried out.
