Village cut off after phone-line theft

A Saddleworth village is now even more isolated after 225 metres of underground telephone cables were stolen.

Lines went dead in Denshaw at some point on Friday night, when the theft is thought to have happened, and many residents have been left without a service since.

BT confirmed that around 90 customers have already reported the problem.

Engineers were despatched to the village on Saturday, but it could be some time before service is restored.

A BT spokesman said: “Engineers have been working on replacing the cable since Saturday and will shortly start work on connecting up each of the individual lines affected.

“The nature of the damage makes it painstaking work to repair, and they hope to have everyone fully restored to working service later in the week.”

The company says cable theft can have a serious impact on communities and an in-house security unit has established a nationwide intelligence-led taskforce to combat such incidents. Some 400 arrests have been made in the past year for stealing from the BT network.

Customers are also reminded to get in touch with their service providers, as they are likely to be able to divert calls to a mobile number while the lines are down.

Residents concerned about suspicious behaviour should call Crimestoppers on 0800-555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org.