Couple's 'lifeline to outside' cut off for weeks

Jim Crawford and his wife Noreen have been relying on their local pub to access the phone and internet

A couple living in a small rural village say their landline and internet have been cut off for a month and they have no hope of being reconnected.

Jim and Noreen Crawford live in Hethersgill, near Carlisle, and are relying on the kindness of their local pub to get online and make calls since the fault on 9 July.

"It's been terrible, it's like having your arm cut off - it's been really stressful, [the phone] is my lifeline," said Mrs Crawford, who is 72.

Openreach apologised for the delays in getting the couple reconnected and said repair work would start on Tuesday.

The couple do have a pay-as-you-go mobile phone but they only use it for emergencies.

Mrs Crawford said she relied on the landline for medical appointments and to speak to her family, who live in the Newcastle area, including her sister who is ill.

"I need it and I've been really uptight and upset about it," she added.

'They don't care'

They believe cabling was damaged while work was being carried out in the area.

Openreach attended the next day and confirmed the fault but the couple said it did nothing to repair it.

"If the phone lines and broadband had have gone down in Harraby or somewhere like that - a big area - it would have been fixed immediately," said Mr Crawford.

Mr Crawford says he believes as only a small number of people are affected the connection issue is not seen as a priority

Since they and four neighbouring homes were cut off, they have been relying on the broadband at their local pub, The Black Lion, which landlady Marti Irving is letting them use.

Mr Crawford said: "We're out here and they just don't care about us, there's only five properties so they're not bothered - that's the feeling I'm getting."

The 74-year-old said he believed delays may be due to Openreach attempting to settle the matter with another company they think caused the damage.

He said Openreach had not given them any updates.

After being contacted by the BBC, Openreach said a third party had accidentally damaged its cables, which are on a 60mph road.

"We've had to request two-way temporary traffic lights so our engineers can work safely," a spokesperson said.

"Repair work will start on Tuesday and we'll get Jim and Noreen back up and running as soon as possible."