Almost 300 Moreton residents were left with no landline or internet access for nine days

Nov 24 2010 by Matt Hurst, Heswall News

HUNDREDS of Wirral customers have received an apology after they spent NINE days with no access to the Internet or their landline telephones.

BT OPENREACH apologised after almost 300 customers in Moreton lost the service on November 10.

Hundreds of householders found their receivers were dead when they attempted to make a phone call.

Internet access was similarly affected after water found its way into the cable that carries the connections for these homes.

But anger mounted as the problem continued and customers were not informed when it may be resolved.

Trisha Ijewsky lives on Meadowbrook Road, in Moreton, and has just undergone hip replacement surgery.

She had passed her landline to all the medical staff helping her recuperate, and suddenly found herself completely cut off.

Trisha told Wirral News: “I thought it was abysmal.

“If it’s going to be off for that long a time, they could have put a postcard through the door.

“I managed to speak to my niece, who was quite worried because she knew I’d had an operation and all she was getting when she called was the engaged tone.

“It was very worrying.”

A spokesperson for BT Openreach, who maintain the phone lines for all companies, said “we do our best to update customers”, but added that sometimes it’s difficult because repairs may take longer than expected.

In this case, the problem arose “due to excessive water ingress in the cable”.

The spokesperson said: “Work round-the-clock started immediately to replace a 140-metre section of cable.

“However, we encountered unexpected engineering challenges which have meant the repairs took longer than we would have hoped.

“We apologise for the inconvenience.”

The lines were reconnected on Friday.