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28
Jan
Harrogate homes without landlines and WiFi after contractor ‘accidentally damages’ network
A contractor accidentally cut through an Openreach cable whilst carrying out roadworks in Harrogate, it has emerged today.
Contractor Balfour Beatty started work on York Place yesterday (January 27) on behalf of Northern Powergrid, which is behind the £20 million scheme to upgrade the town’s electricity network.
The first phase will see work carried out on the road, between the Prince of Wales roundabout and the Oatlands Drive junction, until February 20. The junction with Oatlands Drive is also closed.
Two of the three lanes on York Place are closed and a one-way system has been set up.
Lucy Arundel, who lives on St Winifred's Road, today told the Stray Ferret she has been left without WiFi and a landline, which she claimed was due to the contractor "cutting through" an Openreach cable.
Ms Arundel said several homes in her area have been without internet and their landlines for more than 24 hours.
She added:
There are quite a few elderly people in our area. It’s isolating for them; they won’t be able to watch the television or use the phone.
Meanwhile, a Yewdale Road resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said his internet connection and landline are also down.
He also claimed this was due to a damaged cable:
Our road’s internet has been out for more than 24 hours. Through a conversation with one of the contractors on Oatlands, it has come to light they damaged the cables.
The man raised concerns about the impact the outage has on those who work from home. He added:
I think it's just good to get this highlighted more widely [and] how much of an impact it has.
The road closures are one thing but to then take out our broadband connectivity when so many people rely on homeworking these days is not good enough - particularly when they don't provide updates on what is happening.
Contractor ‘accidentally hit a cable duct’
The Stray Ferret contacted Northern Powergrid, which is behind the roadworks, to ask if the claims were true.
A spokesperson said Balfour Beatty, the contractor, “accidentally hit a shallow BT cable duct”.
The contractor reported this immediately and the cable is being repaired as we speak, they added.
We also approached Openreach about the situation. The Stray Ferret asked the company to confirm if a cable had been severed and asked how long people could be without broadband.
An Openreach spokesperson said:
A third party working in the area has accidently damaged a section of our underground network, resulting in the loss of phone and broadband for a number of people in the vicinity.
We’re very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Our engineers are on site and carrying out repairs to get people back online as quickly as possible.
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