Engineers are still working to replace a telephone cable damaged by water after a hydrant burst in the centre of Slaithwaite.
BT’s local network business, Openreach, has logged 22 faults from householders whose land lines have been affected as a result of the burst which happened as fire crews were tackling a blaze at the Watershed on Bridge Street last Tuesday.
The burst sent water shooting 50ft into the air but also damaged a section of underground cable.
But Openreach was criticised by one of the residents affected, former telephone engineer Howard Walker, for “lack of local knowledge” which meant the seriousness of the flood was not immediately recognised.
Mr Taylor, who lives at Crimea Lane, Pole Moor, said his phone and dozens of others went dead shortly after the flooding – but it wasn’t until Friday morning that an engineer was made aware of the extent of the problem.
He also claimed the cable had been in need of replacing for some time.
WATCH: Burst water main in Slaithwaite
Mr Walker has now invested in a 4G router with a large aerial to overcome the problem.
He said: “As an ex-phone engineer I knew from experience that the symptoms indicated water in the cable. Because of a lack of local knowledge Openreach was unaware that many phones on the same cable were out of action. When phones were run locally by BT this fact would have been known within a few minutes. I know as I worked at the local exchange.
“It now looks likely that services will not be restored until the affected cable – which has been damaged for years – will be changed.
“Openreach have refused to replace it for a long time, despite many people complaining.
"They say that few faults have been reported on BT lines. What they do not realise is that as most people in the area have switched to other services and the faults are dealt with by other suppliers’ fault reporting systems so the size of the problem is much bigger than it appears.”
Mr Walker added: “When I complained to BT they told me to change my supplier. As only BT has a network where I live, this attitude is ridiculous.”
A spokesman for BT said: “We have an underground cable which has started to develop faults. BT’s local network business, Openreach currently has 22 faults from households affected by this.
“Engineers have investigated and need to replace around 40 metres of affected cabling and clear out silt and blockages in the ducting.”
He said it was hoped to complete the work and restored services to all those affected by next weekend, adding: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience whilst this work is being carried out.”
