PHONE lines and broadband in St John’s have been cut off for three days after two underground cables have been “cut and taken”, reportedly affecting 2,000 lines.

An Openreach spokesman said today there is “disruption to a small number of phone and broadband users” after the local network was damaged due to a theft.

He said he is waiting to hear back on timescales but engineers are hoping to get repairs done “as quickly as possible and restore service”, while also working alongside Crimestoppers.

“Our network has been damaged in Worcester, which is really disappointing,” he continued. 

“Two of our underground cables have been taken and we understand how frustrating this must be for people living there who are now without a telephone and broadband service.

“Our aim now is to get this repaired as quickly as possible and restore service.

“We’re working closely with Crimestoppers and ask people to be extra vigilant and report any suspicious activity in the local area to the police.”

Residents in and around the Worcester ward who had no working phones or internet, from different providers, said they had been warned the issue would hopefully be fixed by Friday afternoon.

David James, of Turnpike Close, whose phone went down on Tuesday, said: “The phone is absolutely dead, it’s not as if it’s making scratching noises.

“I have gone through all my stuff from TalkTalk and it primarily gives web addresses, which are no good.”

He said he didn’t want to ring any of the premium numbers on his mobile phone as he is worried about cost.

“[At first] I just thought they are doing work putting in fibre [optic] and someone’s cut through a cable and they would quickly set it right,” Mr James continued.

He went round to a couple of neighbours’ homes on Tuesday and they said their line was down as well.

Another man who lives off Monarch Drive said he and neighbours have been “cut off” since Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s lasted right through to this morning, with nothing going on,” he said. One of his neighbours who is a BT customer had apparently been told by the provider there’s a “fault in the area” while the man had been told by Sky it would likely be the end of the week before the issue is resolved.