Car fire leaves homes with no internet for weeks

The car fire damaged the telegraph pole and wires above

Villagers living in East Sussex have been without broadband and landlines for three weeks after a car fire damaged a telegraph pole.

The pole and fibre optic cables have not been fixed after the fire in Church Road, Catsfield, on 13 August.

Residents say this means they have been unable to order medication, do their online banking or call their families.

Rother District Council said it had to allow Sussex Police to investigate but could now remove the vehicle so repairs can take place, while Openreach, which runs the landline and broadband network, said a small number of customers had been affected.

Wilfred John Brett is 94, lives alone and relies on his landline to speak to family

One resident, 94-year-old Wilfred John Brett, relies on a personal alarm attached to his wrist in case he falls but this has not been working, according to his family.

"It's very isolated, John doesn't see many people around here," said his cousin David, who visits him weekly.

He added: "John has carers who come once a day for about 30 minutes, that's been the saving grace.

"But it still leaves John without any support for most the day until the phone company pull their finger out.

"I'm very concerned, I hate to think he fell down and broke something waiting until the carer came in the next day."

Missing messages

Mr Brett, who has lived at his home for 40 years, said: "At the moment I can't ring out, what I'm worried about more than anything is if I collapse during the night and can't tell anybody."

Denise Cleary, who lives nearby, said her and her husband have been unable to do online banking or receive calls from the hospital.

Mrs Cleary said: "Our 5G is patchy so we haven't got all the messages we need such as ordering our medication and hospitals haven't been able to get hold of us because they normally ring on the landline which is kaput.

"These days when we are pushed into relying on everything with the internet, when you haven't got it everything comes to a stop."

A spokesperson for Openreach said: "We're aware of an incident where a third-party vehicle fire damaged part of our network, affecting a small number of customers.

"Our engineers are working to get everyone back up and running as quickly and safely as possible. We're sorry for the disruption and appreciate everyone's patience."

A Rother District Council spokesperson said it needed to allow police to investigate but will now allow for the car to be removed.