Villagers had 'no warning' about signal disruption

The disruption in Esh Winning started on 13 January, villagers say

Villagers have been struggling to make or receive phone calls for two weeks while a mast is upgraded.

Some residents of Esh Winning, County Durham, said they had had little or no mobile signal since 13 January and there had been no warning about the disruption.

Operator O2, which is used by Tesco Mobile, Giffgaff and Sky, confirmed it had been carrying out upgrades to a mast in the area.

It apologised for the disruption and said information was "clearly communicated" and regularly updated on its website.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said the community was "very upset and angry" because no-one had been warned.

The resident said not having signal had left them unable to receive text message reminders about upcoming hospital appointments.

According to O2's network status checker, the issues could last until 8 February.

'Short-term disruption'

Ian Rees, who recently moved to the area, said he also started having signal issues on the same day, resulting in him nearly missing out on a job offer.

Signal since then had been sporadic, with no mobile data signal at all, he said.

"I'm OK now as I've figured out how to enable Wi-Fi calling," he said.

"I'm new-ish to the area so my main problem is trying to use any satnav apps to get me around."

An O2 spokesperson said: "We are carrying out planned upgrades to a mast in Esh Winning to ensure we continue to provide fast and reliable connectivity to customers in the area.

"This may cause some short-term disruption and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."

Vodafone, which is used by VOXI, Asda Mobile, Lebara, and Talkmobile, has also been affected.

"Our infrastructure partner, who is responsible for the site, is carrying out essential upgrades which will support future technologies," it said.

The company apologised and encouraged customers to sign up to its network checker.

EE said its mobile network in the village was operating as normal.

Three said there were no ongoing faults or issues with its network in the area.