Elderly and retired in Rugby left with no phone for weeks

A 90-year-old woman was left without her lifeline for more than two weeks after repairs to a telegraph pole were delayed.
A fallen telegraph pole, which was knocked down by accident on 22nd December, has now been replaced. NNL-171101-074045009A fallen telegraph pole, which was knocked down by accident on 22nd December, has now been replaced. NNL-171101-074045009
A fallen telegraph pole, which was knocked down by accident on 22nd December, has now been replaced. NNL-171101-074045009

On December 22 a gritter crashed on The Green in Long Lawford, which resulted in a telegraph pole being knocked down.

Sue Miller, whose 90-year-old mother lives in the area, has had a few worrying weeks after the phone line stopped working.

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She said: “Since the pole came down my mother and residents around her haven’t had use of a phone. It’s a worrying situation as her lifeline is connected to the phone and alerts emergency services if there is a problem.

“It is mostly retired and elderly in that street too. We kept calling Openreach (BT)and they said they would get back to us but they didn’t.”

A BT spokesperson said the repair was due to be carried out yesterday, Wednesday.

They added: “It is extremely regrettable when Openreach suffers any accidental damage to its network.

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“In such cases every effort is made to undertake the necessary repairs and restore any affected services as quickly as possible. Openreach apologises for any inconvenience caused.”

A spokesperson for Warwickshire County Council said: “A gritter driver collapsed at the wheel on December 22 at The Green in Long Lawford. An ambulance was sent to the site, the driver was treated at the scene and admitted to hospital for further tests.

“The council’s highway crews immediately made the site safe and recovered the gritter lorry. The lorry had front-end damage from hitting garden walls, parked cars and knocking down a BT pole.

“The telegraph pole was damaged and left safely on the highway verge. We contacted BT on December 23 to fix the pole and renew these service connections.”