'Poles in Hedon medieval town installed without consent'

Areas of Hedon are listed as a Scheduled Monument, according to Historic England

Several broadband poles installed in an East Yorkshire town have been installed without the necessary consent, Historic England said.

The poles were erected in an area of Hedon which has Scheduled Monument status, as part of a government scheme to improve fibre broadband coverage.

However, Historic England said consent had not been granted ahead of the work.

Broadband operator MS3, responsible for the poles, said it was now working on finding "the most suitable location".

Last year, hundreds of people in Hedon protested against the installation of new telegraph poles in residential streets.

Changes to the law since April 2022 mean operators can erect poles without having to apply to councils for planning permission.

However, according to the government, scheduled monument consent is needed to carry out work that would demolish, damage, remove, repair, alter or add to a scheduled monument.

This can be obtained from Historic England, on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Carrying out work without such consent is classed as a criminal offence.

Residents in Hedon, East Yorkshire, were angry at having not been consulted over the plans

Historic England said it had been made aware of the poles in Hedon late last year and work to put up more poles had been halted.

The scheduled area includes a pre-1979 housing estate and three of the poles had been erected without the necessary consent, the public body said.

A Historic England spokesperson said: "Historic England is working with broadband contractors MS3 to understand the archaeological impact caused by the positioning of these poles.

"We are looking to relocate them outside of the scheduled area but if any of the additional poles can only be located within the scheduled area, we will work with MS3 to ensure the right permissions and mitigation is in place."

Guy Miller, chief executive of MS3 Networks, said the poles were saving residents more than £1m per year.

He said the company was working with Historic England to ensure the most suitable location for the telegraph poles.