Teh One Who Knocks
04-28-2016, 11:27 AM
By Hugo Gye for MailOnline
http://i.imgur.com/Yytwmpv.jpg
A village has been thrown into chaos after an engineering mix-up which left residents with their neighbours' phone numbers.
BT workers went to the village of Cliffords Mesne in Gloucestershire after complaints that a cable was being damaged by rubbing against a tree.
But after the work was finished last week, around 50 homes in the area were left with the wrong phone number, according to locals.
The blunder, which has not yet been fixed, meant that anyone trying to get through to a villager would end up speaking to their neighbour instead.
John Franklin, a 65-year-old retired lecturer, said: 'We get the supply via a trunk cable and part of that had been rubbing against a tree and giving faults, so had to be replaced.
'So they cut out a section, but apparently the new cable was different from the old one, and they got mixed up.
'Around half to two thirds of the village had a problem as a result. Thankfully we all more or less know each other, we were able to work out who had whose number.
'It took a little while to work out and people were getting confused. For instance, one neighbour was waiting for a hospital appointment to come through on the phone, and the hospital rang her, but of course they rang another neighbour down the road.
'Thankfully she was able to pop along and tell them about it. It was a little bit like the village was running a delivery service for a while.'
Although the blunder was caused by engineers from BT Openreach, residents in the Forest of Dean community were told they had to contact their own service provider to get it fixed.
They were left phoning each other to try and work out which number was now attached to which home.
Susan Fewell, 63, who had the wrong number for several days, said: 'It has been a totally bizarre situation.
'It was quite fraught for a period but people are beginning to see the funny side of it now.
'There are quite a lot of elderly people in this area that need access to their landline - this has caused them some concern.'
The handful of residents who escaped being caught up in the drama found themselves acting as a messaging service, putting neighbours in touch with one another.
'We were one of the fortunate houses that were not affected,' said Marion Roper, 71.
'We have been putting people in contact with other neighbours as we were one of the few numbers people knew for certain.
'A few people in the village have suggested that we set up a secret dating agency.'
BT blamed the mess on contractors working for Openreach - claiming that only 15 homes in Cliffords Mesne were affected.
'An issue arose while contractors working for Openreach - who install and maintain the local network on behalf of all communications providers - were replacing a section of overhead cable, which left around 15 customers with crossed lines,' a spokesman said.
'Openreach is working hard to put things right and apologies for any convenience caused.
'Anyone who thinks they may be affected by this unfortunate incident must report a fault to their communications provider - i.e. the company they pay their bill to - so a thorough investigation can be carried out.'
http://i.imgur.com/Yytwmpv.jpg
A village has been thrown into chaos after an engineering mix-up which left residents with their neighbours' phone numbers.
BT workers went to the village of Cliffords Mesne in Gloucestershire after complaints that a cable was being damaged by rubbing against a tree.
But after the work was finished last week, around 50 homes in the area were left with the wrong phone number, according to locals.
The blunder, which has not yet been fixed, meant that anyone trying to get through to a villager would end up speaking to their neighbour instead.
John Franklin, a 65-year-old retired lecturer, said: 'We get the supply via a trunk cable and part of that had been rubbing against a tree and giving faults, so had to be replaced.
'So they cut out a section, but apparently the new cable was different from the old one, and they got mixed up.
'Around half to two thirds of the village had a problem as a result. Thankfully we all more or less know each other, we were able to work out who had whose number.
'It took a little while to work out and people were getting confused. For instance, one neighbour was waiting for a hospital appointment to come through on the phone, and the hospital rang her, but of course they rang another neighbour down the road.
'Thankfully she was able to pop along and tell them about it. It was a little bit like the village was running a delivery service for a while.'
Although the blunder was caused by engineers from BT Openreach, residents in the Forest of Dean community were told they had to contact their own service provider to get it fixed.
They were left phoning each other to try and work out which number was now attached to which home.
Susan Fewell, 63, who had the wrong number for several days, said: 'It has been a totally bizarre situation.
'It was quite fraught for a period but people are beginning to see the funny side of it now.
'There are quite a lot of elderly people in this area that need access to their landline - this has caused them some concern.'
The handful of residents who escaped being caught up in the drama found themselves acting as a messaging service, putting neighbours in touch with one another.
'We were one of the fortunate houses that were not affected,' said Marion Roper, 71.
'We have been putting people in contact with other neighbours as we were one of the few numbers people knew for certain.
'A few people in the village have suggested that we set up a secret dating agency.'
BT blamed the mess on contractors working for Openreach - claiming that only 15 homes in Cliffords Mesne were affected.
'An issue arose while contractors working for Openreach - who install and maintain the local network on behalf of all communications providers - were replacing a section of overhead cable, which left around 15 customers with crossed lines,' a spokesman said.
'Openreach is working hard to put things right and apologies for any convenience caused.
'Anyone who thinks they may be affected by this unfortunate incident must report a fault to their communications provider - i.e. the company they pay their bill to - so a thorough investigation can be carried out.'