Couple struggle to get BT to give them a phoneline

Ralph and Valerie Walton, both 76, from South Dalton, near Beverley, have been trying since June to get Openreach, BT’s infrastructure arm, to install a new line, without success.

Appointments with engineers have been lined up half a dozen times then cancelled - each time with the excuse that Openreach “don’t come here.”

Daughter Lynn de Vries, who lives next door and has a BT landline, has cancelled her holiday plans, as she feels too worried to leave her parents without a phone they can use.

She said: “No-one round here can understand it. Everyone in Holme on the Wolds and South Dalton all have BT landlines.

“Openreach put a line into our house when we moved in 18 months ago. It doesn’t make sense that my parents’ little cottage which is nestled between my house and the neighbours can’t have one.

“They should have put the line in on August 1 - the fifth, 11th and 17th - were all cancelled. I feel like I am banging my head against a wall.” BT said they were investigating. A spokesman said: “We will be contacting the customer in order to clear up any problems as quickly as possible.”