Marston, Fulbeck and Hougham residents informed 'lifeline' landlines will be fixed after five weeks without them

Openreach has informed residents of three villages that their landlines will be fixed today (November 2), after they have been left without them for five weeks.

On Wednesday, September 28, Openreach landlines for 239 households across Marston, Fulbeck and Hougham went down after 1,500 metres of underground cable was stolen.

Margaret Ballam, who lives in School Lane in Marston, was one of those who was affected and she was left without "her lifeline", said Kim Roberts, her daughter.

Since the Journal reported on Margaret's experience, another daughter contacted the Journal about her 88-year-old mother who also lives in Marston.

The daughter, who wished for her and her mother to remain anonymous, said: "My mother is in a very desperate situation.

"As a result of what is going on, social services has had to get involved. The loss of her landline has triggered all sorts of problems for my mother.

"There is no point running out and buying her a mobile as she wouldn't even be able to turn it on."

The daughter believes communication from Openreach has been "appalling".

She added: "Their (Openreach) form of contact is absolutely appalling. It’s frankly embarrassing.

"There's no email to use, no telephone line to use and they just direct you to the chat box. The first chat I tried was abandoned."

Openreach have said it hopes the damage will be repaired today if "everything goes to plan," a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added: "Our engineers have been working hard here to repair the damage and replace the stolen cable, following the criminal activity that took place.

"We’re nearly there and as long as everything goes to plan, we hope to have people reconnected by Wednesday (November 2).

"We thank everyone living locally for their patience and understanding during what we know has been a very difficult time for them.

"We ask them to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity around our network, particularly late at night.”