Bookshop waits for broadband since Christmas

Alexis Collins took over the former Kim's Bookshop in Chichester

A woman who took over an independent bookshop has been left without broadband since opening just before Christmas.

Alexis Collins moved into what had previously been Kim's Bookshop in Chichester, West Sussex, at the start of December.

She said without broadband she cannot accept card payments or order books for customers, and has to provide handwritten receipts for cash sales.

Providers Openreach and Vodafone have apologised and said they are working to get her online as soon as possible.

Ms Collins told BBC Radio Sussex: "Kim's Bookshop had always had internet access, I just very naively thought I would too.

"We got to the 19 December and were told an engineer couldn't visit because there was insufficient capacity to provide us with a line."

She said she has had to trade without a till since opening on 21 December, adding: "We have to turn customers away because we can't accept their card payments.

"Most frustratingly, I can't offer a customer ordering system.

"I have to spend my evenings doing everything off site to use the internet to replace the stock and update the accounting records."

Ms Collins says she has had to turn away customers who want to pay by card

Openreach said: "We're sorry it's taken longer than we would have liked to get Alexis's new service up and running.

"We're undertaking complex civil engineering works to make the right network connection available; this should be complete tomorrow (Thursday).

"We'll then work with Vodafone to get Alexis online as quickly as possible."

Vodafone said: "Our infrastructure partner, Openreach, encountered unexpected issues while attempting to connect the service.

"We're actively working with them to find a solution.

"We've provided Alexis with a MiFi device, ensuring she has access to free 4G mobile data to stay connected."

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