Fury over Bungay phones
ALMOST 100 homes in Bungay have been without a telephone or internet connection for more than a month.
Those affected say the problem came after workmen claimed a cable was damaged.
People on Meadow Road and Joyce Road have complained that they are unable to make or receive calls, leaving several small businesses without a way to contact customers.
The roadworks thought to be at fault have since been finished, although it is expected the road will have to be dug up again for the problem to be solved by BT engineers.
Toni Syder lives on Joyce Road and has not had a working phone line since September 30.
Her husband is a self-employed painter and decorator and has had to divert calls from the broken business line at his home to a mobile phone.
“I’ve e-mailed Watchdog about it because I’m fuming,” said Mrs Syder.
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She said initially she and her neighbours were told that the problem was due to a gas leak and that it would be solved within a week.
The couple have been making business calls on the mobile phone, which Mrs Syder has had to top up with �10 each week. They have also diverted calls from their landline, but complain that some people have not been able to get through.
“It’s just cost an absolute fortune. Why should we be out of pocket?” she added.
“I can’t receive or make calls. I’ve got messages left that I can’t retrieve. I’ve got to find out if any of them are for work.”
Graham Brooker, 48, of Meadow Road has had no service for three weeks. “I’ve tried to phone my provider, I spoke to a girl in India and she was just reading from a script,” he said.
An apologetic BT spokesman said: “We have an underground cable in the area which has gone faulty after water got into it. We have been in the process of working out a repair. This has proved to be an extremely difficult process. We have needed traffic lights to allow safe working and have discovered areas of blocked and broken ducting which means a straight cable replacement is not possible. It is likely that we will have to carry out further extensive excavations to be able to put new cabling in.”
