Shropshire businessman fumes over lost internet link
A Shropshire businessman who has been without internet and a phone line for more than a month said it is "severely" impacting on his business.
John McGuinness, who lives in Adderley Road, near Market Drayton, runs a health and safety practice from his home.
He helps provide services to a wide range of industries and establishments.
However, he said for the last month he has struggled to communicate with his clients due to not having a landline phone or internet connection.
He said: "I run a small business and I have had no broadband for a month now.
"I have been sent four dates from BT engineers saying they are coming out but then they cancel or not turn up. It is starting to become a real problem as I cannot send my tax electronically to the Inland Revenue.
"You can only send this online and I will be in a lot of trouble if they do not receive my forms.
"I have had no communication from BT and it is getting very frustrating.
"I have had broadband for the last 15 years and never had a problem before."
Mr McGuinness said the problems start in January when he reported a fault on the telephone line.
He said: "There was a strange buzzing on the phone so I reported it to BT and then things got worse.
"Next thing I knew I had no phone line at all and people could not ring me. I have contacted the MP for North Shropshire, Owen Paterson, in the hope he can help me.
"I am a safety consultant and a lot of my business is based online. I cannot receive or answer emails and it is really impacting the business.
"People can't ring in and some people have said to me that they thought I had left the business.
"I have been paying for a telephone service for the past month that I cannot use.
"I hope something is sorted soon."
Last month dozens of homes in the south of the county were without telephone and broadband connections.
Engineers called out to Church Stretton, where about 100 homes and businesses were affected, traced the problem to underground cables that were damaged in wet weather.
It is not yet known what the problem with Mr McGuinness's network is.
BT was not available for comment.
