Broadway protester, 75, has no regrets over broadband sit-in

A 75-year-old man says he has no regrets over his arrest after repeated sit-ins at a protest against broadband supplies being put in at a village.

Protesters were trying to stop wooden poles being erected as part of connecting up Broadway, Worcestershire.

David Owen repeatedly climbed aboard a contractors' lorry during the three-day protest.

He was later treated in hospital for hypothermia, but said he acted as the poles' installation was simply "wrong".

Provider Full Fibre said it had worked hard to respond to all concerns and to highlight the importance of the work.

The company said it intended to install 22 poles between 9m (29ft) and 11m (36ft) tall, on the residential estate in the village.

"[But] this is an estate where the residents don't have telegraph poles with wires outside of their house, never have had," Mr Owen said.

"There are mothers with babies, and they want to put these poles two metres outside the bedroom."

By the end of the sit-in he had become unwell, and said paramedics had saved his life after he was taken off the lorry.

"It took them a long time to get me to recover in the ambulance - I'd gone into hypothermia - and had a few cuts and bruises," he explained.

"They had to take me straight to hospital after they'd stabilised my body."

Mr Owen, who thanked the medics who had treated him, was arrested while he was in the ambulance, on suspicion of a public order offence.

West Mercia Police has since confirmed he has not been charged with the offence.

Despite not regretting what he did, Mr Owen said: "I have the one regret that's more serious than most and that's that the residents have told me that they've put some poles in after they saw me off to hospital, that's upset me a lot."

But Full Fibre said it had worked hard to address residents' concerns.

"We are a business that is working to upgrade the UK's infrastructure to future-proof towns and villages," a spokesman said.

"However, we are aware that these changes can bring a level of disruption, and we continually strive to minimise any impact as much as possible.

"This includes working with communities to reduce their frustrations and understand the importance of the work we are doing.

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