RESIDENTS have lost their phone service after a faulty cable and gas leak affected properties.

Homes in the Allsprings Drive, Park Lane, and Alexandra Place area of Great Harwood have had no phone service after ‘excessive water’ got into an underground cable.

Residents in the area have been without a connection since Wednesday, December 4, and further delays could see some waiting until the end of the week, at least.

BT said 120 customers in the area were affected.

When engineers tried to access the cable, gas was detected which further del-ayed the repairs.

Now a painstaking process to reconnect each resident, one by one, is to begin.

Resident John Ward said: “We were told it would be back on by the 7th, then by the 12th, and now we are looking at the 20th at least.

“Although I’m a pensioner we are doing OK, but it must be pretty scary for some of the older people to be so cut off. For many people their phone is a lifeline.”

Resident John Hallworth said: “Different dates have been provided for the reinstatement, but none have materialised and the information stream has now dried up. At least one elderly resident has been without use of her emergency alarm device for the whole period.”

Borough councillor Ian Robinson, who lives near Allsprings Drive, is urging affected residents to get in touch.

He said: “We are unaffected because we are on Virgin Media, but my neighbours are mentioning it.

“I would urge people to get in touch. It is not a council issue, but if it is affecting the residents I will take it on board. I have been trying to find out more about the problem in the meantime.”

A spokeswoman for BT said: “Openreach, the network business that looks after the network on behalf of all service providers, has now been given the go-ahead by the gas company to start the repairs. Engineers are working there today and will continue to work until everyone is back in service.

“The nature of the rep-airs means people will have their lines back gradually and it is a painstaking process as engineers have to connect one customer at a time. We apologise for any inconvenience, and stress that everything is being done to restore the services affected as quickly as possible.

“Anyone affected should contact their service provider to see if it is possible for their incoming calls to be diverted to an alternative number while the repairs are going on.”