Neighbours living near the city centre have told of their frustration after their internet and phone services were cut off. They said a fire "melted" the cabinet providing broadband and phone services located on Raleigh Street, at its junction with Russell Street - affecting around 100 people who have been "left in the dark" for a month.
Communities in Radford said they felt isolated, despite living close to the city centre. Sourabh Borse, a Masters student who lives on Raleigh Street, said: "It feels like we are isolated because the internet is almost never working."
The 22-year-old added: "It feels like we have been left in the dark. We live close to the city centre, but have no internet.
"It has been like this for a month. The internet is very slow and sometimes is just not working at all."
A teacher living on Raleigh Street, who said the disruption is stopping him from doing his work, added: "I have got marking to do and it just takes ages for the papers to load. It is absolutely impossible."
The 28-year-old, who does not wish to be named, went on and said: "I feel isolated like many people do. I have got the same issue - it has been going on for a month. I am in difficulty because I also have to work from home."
Some neighbours said their landline has been affected. However, Dominic Graham, who lives just across the street from the now melted cabin said his internet connection "sometimes goes off for a few seconds, minutes - but nothing serious".
The 19-year-old student added: "I have not noticed anything wrong with it, apart from the occasional disconnections. But I have seen a lot of electricians in the past few days - I wondered what it was."
An Openreach engineer, who did not wish to be named, added: "It is a massive job. It has been out for a month - and it is going to take another two weeks to fix it."
A donation clothing box is located next to the cabin. The engineer said: "Someone left some clothes on the side, and then someone else has torched them.
"The whole cabin is melted. There is also a lot of water from when the firefighters extinguished the fire - but it is mainly the fire that destroyed it.
"I do not know why it took so long for someone to do it. It is affecting around 100 households - all because of some idiots who caused the fire."
A spokesperson for Openreach said: “We’re really sorry for the disruption here. Our green roadside cabinet was badly damaged and this is causing disruption to broadband and phone services for around 100 customers.
"We understand how frustrating this is. Due to the nature of the damage, we’re having to replace the cabinet completely and this work is already underway. We’re prioritising vulnerable customers but expect to have everyone back up and running in the next few days."
READ NEXT:
