Village left without mobile service for two months

Businesses in Rottingdean say they are struggling to use their card machines for payments

A village in East Sussex has been left without mobile phone coverage for two months due to the removal of a mast.

After the mast was taken from on top of The White Horse pub for renovations in August, EE and Three customers in Rottingdean have been without signal.

Businesses in the village say they are struggling to use their card machines for payments as a result.

Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) and Mobile Broadband Networks Limited (MBNL) are blaming each other for the lack of a replacement.

Sue Finch, who sells antiques at Rottingdean Emporium, said the lack of card machine payments had been an “absolute nightmare”.

“It means people have got to produce the cash or leave the article behind,” she told BBC Radio Sussex. “And there has been no communication whatsoever.

“Let us know what is going on, and stop this nonsense.”

Katrina Durrington, a volunteer at The Deans Senior Tea Club charity shop, added: “People have to go next door to get cash out, or they just walk out.”

Sue Finch said the lack of card machine payments had been an “absolute nightmare”

BHCC said the mast company wanted to install a temporary mast at the Marine Cliffs car park as an "emergency".

But when the council asked for further information about the nature of the emergency, no details were forthcoming, the authority said.

However, MBNL said it had "faced some issues with obtaining permission to access the land which is owned by BHCC.

“We are continuing to seek this approval from them and hope this can be resolved as quickly as possible to prevent further disruption to the community,” a spokesperson said.

Rottingdean and West Saltdean councillor Bridget Fishleigh said it had been “a bit of a saga”.

“We just want the company to find a suitable location to get coverage back up again,” she added.