'We were without internet for weeks'

Residents of a Surrey village have expressed anger after they were hit by a prolonged broadband outage.

Jill, from Frensham, said it was "very scary" when the internet "suddenly disappeared" on 5 September as her husband's heart monitor needs connectivity.

"The most important thing for me is to make sure that the hospital knows what's happening with his body so they can keep an eye on him," she said.

An Openreach spokesperson has apologised for the loss of service, which it blamed on a burst water pipe damaging underground cables.

They added on Thursday morning that repairs had been completed and villagers should have their broadband restored.

Vicky Kenish, another Frensham resident, said she has been "terribly, terribly stressed" since losing internet.

"I've got to the state where I can't even think about it," she told BBC Radio Surrey.

Living in an area with poor mobile data, Kenish said the lack of broadband had caused many problems, such as she could not look at bus times when her car broke.

"Everything we do nowadays we need internet for," she said. "When suddenly it's disappearing, it's really scary."

Her landline was also not functioning, Kenish continued.

She added Openreach said multiple times the connection would be restored, though it was not.

Mark Billings, from Frensham, said he has also been without internet for over three weeks.

Most devices in his house were linked to WiFi, such as light switches, which had not been working properly, he added.

"The key point is that we have never got any information from them [Openreach]," he told the BBC.

"The silence is deafening."

Openreach said: "We would like to thank customers for their patience....and we apologise for the disruption this incident has caused."

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