Village 'back in the 1970s' as internet goes down

Villagers have complained of "going back to the 1970s” after their internet went down two days ago.

Residents in Brewood, Staffordshire, said they had been left without broadband since Tuesday afternoon because of a damaged cable.

Some businesses could only use landlines to speak to their clients and people have complained about a lack of information from service providers.

Openreach said 1,200m (1,312 yds) of cable needed to be replaced, which it was hoping to complete on Friday.

Travel expert Gilly Bachelor told BBC Midlands Today she was on a call with a client when the line went dead.

“From then, we haven’t been able to get any internet at all,” she said.

“We’re going back to the 1970s. We’re using landline. I’d even be on dial-up if I could at the moment.”

Resident Phil Yates has been unaffected by the network issue due to getting a satellite-based system installed at his home only a few days ago.

He has since offered his neighbours the use of his home's internet.

“I was working away quite happily yesterday when I saw an increasing number of people screaming on Facebook and on our business page that the internet wasn’t working for them,” he said.

“I had a look around and I thought I’d offer my colleagues in the local support group the use of this place if they wanted to use wi-fi.”

A spokesperson for Openreach said the work to replace the cable was a “big job” and the company was hoping to have it completed on Friday but it could take “a little longer”.

“We understand how disruptive it is to be without connectivity and we’re trying to get things repaired as quickly as possible,” they added.

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