Householders lose their patience over BT wait

HANGING on for a line: Joanne Cumberbirch (left) and partially sighted Katherine Haslam.

CROSSLEY Estate residents have been pushed to breaking point by BT — which has failed to provide phone lines for almost 11 months.

The connection delay could even run to a year after BT engineers admitted that ducting to provide their service had been installed incorrectly and would have to be dug up and relaid.

Registered blind resident, Kath Haslam, is one of the individuals who will suffer from this new setback and is likely to have to wait even longer for the council care alarm she desperately requires for several health problems.

Mrs Haslam (43) moved to Petworth Road last March and has a son with a rare form of asthma and a visually-impaired daughter.

She said: “I felt a council care alarm was necessary to ensure my safety. But I haven’t had the opportunity because of a lack of a landline. This makes me feel very vulnerable.”

Joanne Cumberbirch, also of Petworth Street said: “BT has sent engineers my property nine times. If we are going to be without a connection because of a problem, why have they only just realised this?

The issue has become so extreme that Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher has written to the chief executive of BT Openworld, demanding answers.

He wrote: “Your slogan ‘Keep the Nation Connected’ obviously doesn’t apply to people in the Crossley Estate area. I have been in regular email contact but have not received any meaningful reason for the delay. Tempers, not surprisingly, are beginning to flare.”

A BT spokesman apologised to people on the estate: “The new lines will due to start being connected fron yesterday and will take an estimated two weeks. Planning connections for newly-built homes is a particularly complex engineering job and the Crossley Estate has been no exception.

“We are keenly aware of the difficulties this has caused people on the estate and would like to thank them for their patience. We will now work hard to put the new services in place, on schedule.”