Councillor bemoans 'shocking' mobile black spots

Councillor Adam Kent said even some built-up areas of Worcestershire had no mobile signal

A survey of mobile signal coverage in Worcestershire has revealed "shocking" black spots, a county councillor has said.

Signal trackers were placed on bin lorries belonging to all six district councils in a project which began in October.

Cabinet member for economy and skills Adam Kent said preliminary data suggested there were huge gaps in coverage.

"What I've seen from the initial maps is even in built-up areas… There's absolutely no coverage at all," he said.

As well as trackers being placed on bin lorries, residents and businesses in Worcestershire are invited to take part in a survey on the council's website.

Mr Kent said mobile coverage had "definitely degraded", partly due to the gradual 3G switch-off.

"They've switched off 3G in a lot of areas and I think it's had an adverse effect on communications for the residents of Worcestershire," he explained.

"You could expect, I suppose, in some rural areas, if you've got no houses for miles around, that there might be an issue. But we're talking about very built-up areas… that just aren't covered."

'Impossible for customers'

Mr Kent added the issue went beyond people struggling to make phone calls.

"We've expanded the Worcestershire on-demand bus service and the whole point of it is an app that tells you where the bus is.

"It's not going to work brilliantly well if we can't get this mobile phone coverage up."

He called for more collaboration between mobile providers to reduce gaps in coverage.

"It may well be that Three will work at your house, but if you drive down the road the signal will drop but Vodafone might work on that route," he said.

"It's actually impossible for customers to navigate now."

The project was funded with support from the River Severn Partnership Advanced Wireless Innovation Region (RSPAWIR), which was awarded £3.75m of government funds to support the growth of wireless technology.

The county council said it would use the data from the survey it collects to lobby the government, network providers and telecoms regulator Ofcom to improve connectivity.