King’s Lynn residents voice their frustrations at lack of phone lines for several months

Residents in new build homes in South Lynn have voiced their frustrations at being left without broadband and phone connections for several months.

It follows a report in last week’s Lynn News about Gill and Nicholas Leppard who said they felt “isolated” by the lack of services – but whose connections have since been installed.

Maureen and Gordon Deacon, who have since revealed their irritation, also live in a new build in Minnow Avenue, and have not been able to access internet at their property since December.

Mrs Deacon said: “You can imagine that since December 15, it’s been costing a fortune to keep having to go to the pub, for example, to read our emails.”

Mrs Deacon, 75, and her husband Gordon, 71, moved from Dersingham in to their block of six flats last year, and were some of the first to find themselves in this predicament.

There are now three other flats which are also without these services too.

“A young couple moved into their flat on Easter weekend and they really want their broadband. There’s also an elderly couple who live downstairs who are without it,” she added.

Residents have been told that Openreach have cabling work still to complete and that there is not enough capacity.

Phase three of the Nar Valley Park development is due to start soon, Mrs Deacon said, and she has concerns that this might delay things further.

“We are wondering if they are going to have to wait for that to be finished before they can do the work and we can get a broadband and phone connection,” she added.

Mr Deacon said: “We moved here because it is a slightly bigger place – it’s a nice development.

“When we first moved in we thought it might be a few weeks before our telephone was set up but here we are seven months later.

“This development was being built for the last three or four years, and I’m sure the electric, gas, water and broadband companies were told of this years ago.

“It’s beyond belief.”

Councillor Gary McGuinness said he would have expected the necessary infrastructure to be in place before residents moved in.

He said: “It is pretty worrying that we had got a development of housing which doesn’t seem to be able to give basic facilities before or as residents moved in.

“I can’t imagine that they would not have noticed or been told that this had been planned and that additional capacity would be required.”

Openreach apologised for the delays in installing services and said it was a “very complex and time-consuming job”.

They said: “We are doing all we can to get this sorted as quickly as possible and exploring solutions to provide temporary service.”