PHONE lines are back in action in West Buckland after being down for more than a week.

The lines went down on Wednesday, February 17, and were restored by Friday (Febraury 26), BT spokesman Jason Mann told the WWN.

He said: “We are sorry the repair took longer than usual. It was a complex job involving the replacement of about 220 metres of underground cable and the use of specialist equipment to remove silt from the underground ducting. A road closure also had to be arranged so that our engineers could work safely.”

The village shop was left counting the cost and elderly people were concerned after losing their phone lines.

About 100 complaints were made to BT but shop manager Julie Bartram felt hundreds more people may have been affected.

She said she lost more than £100 a day in trade because she was unable to accept card payments and was unclear whether she would be able to claim compensation.

She was also concerned about the many older people in the village, some of whom have Piper systems they were unable to use if they got into difficulty.

Speaking last Thursday, she added: “I have nothing here whatsoever – no phone, no internet and no card machine, as that’s all through the telephone line.

“We get a lot of passing trade, workmen calling in who want to pay by card, and we have had to turn a lot of people away.

“Some people have complained an awful lot but BT have been very complacent, there’s no apology – we’re just a little village. I’m writing a letter to Ofcom [the telecoms watchdog].”

Villager Bob Payne, who runs a holiday home business from his home, also speaking last Thursday, said: “People haven’t been able to get hold of me and I have lost a couple of bookings.

“I tried to get on to Ofcom today but there’s an automated message saying they are on staff training for 24 hours!”