Weymouth residents left without phone line after cable theft

Radipole residents were left with no phone service on the morning of Friday, April 19.

Engineers were called to Radipole Park Drive to fix a telephone cable which had been cut.

Engineers were called to Radipole Park Drive on Friday (Image: Tom Lawrence)

The cable was located underground, beneath a manhole cover and part of the cable was stolen by thieves.

Mr Bray, a resident of Radipole, said he noticed that he had no phone line when he woke up on Friday morning.

He said: "We reported it to our provider in the morning because we couldn't use our phones at all, we didn't know if it was just us.

"My wife and I went into town on our bikes and saw engineers working on Radipole Park Drive."

An Openreach spokesperson said: “We’re really disappointed that residents in Radipole have borne the brunt of criminal behaviour and theft from our network.  These attacks cause significant damage and unacceptable disruption to the lives of local people and put vulnerable people at risk.

“Our cable was cut on Friday morning and the damage impacted phone and broadband service to around 150 local homes and businesses.

“Engineers worked to restore services quickly and safely and the damage was repaired by Friday evening.

“We’re already using anti-theft technology to help track stolen cable and convict criminals and our Security team is working closely with Dorset Police along with organisations like Crimestoppers, the National Crime Agency, British Transport Police and Network Rail, to tackle the problem together.

“We encourage anyone who is still experiencing problems to contact their provider who will advise us. 

"We’ are particularly keen to see any doorbell footage residents may have; this can be submitted to the Police or Crimestoppers. 

"We urge people to call 101 to report any suspicious activity to the Police; if members of the public do believe a crime is in progress then they should dial 999. "

Dorset Police were contacted for comment.