VILLAGERS have hit out at telecoms giant Vodafone for leaving them without a phone signal for nearly a month.

Residents of Appleton, near Cumnor, say they are “furious” with the network provider.

They lost their signal on August 10, and the company has still not been able to say when the problem will be solved.

Semi-retired business consultant Graham Rose, 68, said: “I think this is a disgrace.

“Many households, thinking there was a good Vodafone signal, have ditched their landlines and rely on their mobiles for communication. There are others who have Voice over Internet (VoIP) phones that, when electricity power is cut, as this system relies on a Broadband connection, have to turn to the use of mobiles to make contact with the power companies and all their other needs.

“I tried to speak with someone at Vodafone who might know the answer, but they pass me from pillar to post — or rather, when I phoned the other day, South Africa, then Yorkshire then Egypt, all to no avail. It is like dealing with jelly. All I wanted to do was to speak to someone at head office in Newbury at senior level.”

Vodafone spokeswoman Jane Frapwell said: “A local mast has developed a cable fault and, at the same time, it is also being adversely affected by a transmission fault at a nearby installation.

“In order to resolve the issue we require a cherry picker as the installation is not suitable for our engineers to climb.

“This has been hampered by overhanging trees and steelwork obstructing access.

“Our engineers are treating this as a priority and we’re working to get the site up and running as soon as possible.”

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