Hungry cows cause misery for mobile phone users in west Cumbria
Last updated at 11:58, Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Mobile phone users in west Cumbria have been left without signal for weeks – because of a field of peckish cows.
The hungry herbivores broke through a fence around a mast at Moota, near Cockermouth and ate a vital link in the Vodafone line.
James Waite, of Redmain, near Moota, said he had been unable to get a Vodafone mobile signal for nearly three weeks as a result.
He said neighbours, colleagues and friends nearby at Eaglesfield have also been unable to use their Vodafone phones.
Mr Waite told the News & Star: “It started with signal being very poor and texts weren't getting sent. Then since last week we've had no signal at all.”
Mr Waite works for W G Mackay plant skip hire that has a site at Eaglesfield.
He said directors of the firm have had no mobile signal on any of their Vodafone phones either.
“It's been causing problems for the business,” he said.
Mr Waite has made a number of complaints to Vodafone. At one point he said he was advised to shell out £50 for equipment to get a signal through his internet connection. “They don't seem interested in a small area like here in Cumbria,” he added.
A spokeswoman for Vodafone said yesterday: “It seems that cows have eaten the BT link. As these links are owned and managed by BT, it is their responsibility to repair any faults.”
A BT spokeswoman added that the link was repaired by 5am today. She said: “It is our equipment but not our site, therefore we had to wait for the repairs to the fence to be completed and for the area to be made safe.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused by these unusual and unforseeable circumstances.”
First published at 11:27, Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
BT:"We apologise for the inconvenience caused by these unusual and unforseeable circumstances.â
The farmer owning the surrounding field but not the site or fence, started warning the site owners last year about it's poor condition. It was supposed to have been fixed at the end of last year. Some remedial work was carried out to an adjoining fence and gate this June by the owners contractors, but the compound itself was not touched. By this stage stock had virtually free access to the site. When this was mentioned to the contractors, it was stated that it was not on their work schedule. This was reported back to the site owners at the time, as it had been agreed back in Oct.2010 that it would be attended to.
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Cows will be cows.
Posted by elaine on 25 September 2011 at 22:21