RESIDENTS and businesses in part of Northumberland were last night still without broadband, five days after losing it.
People at Crookham and Ford and Etal estates, near Berwick, have been without broadband since the early hours of Saturday.
Last night, BT blamed a fault caused by recent bad weather in the area and said it had specialists looking into the disruption – which it was treating as urgent.
The Journal reported on Monday how people at Crookham and Cornhill had lost their broadband and phone lines in the early hours of Saturday.
The areas had snow on Saturday but residents said the services went down before it fell.
Phone lines came back early on Saturday afternoon but the broadband was not back on by Sunday night.
The loss affected Lauren and Keith Elstob who were working towards tonight’s planned reopening of the Blue Bell pub at Crookham.
The couple’s till system is reliant on a wireless network and they complained to BT.
It also hit Journal columnist and former national newspaper editor David Banks, who lives at Crookham.
He relies on Skype and e-mail to do his weekly Saturday night review of Sunday’s newspapers on Radio Five Live.
Last night, people at Crookham, and Ford and Etal estates, were still without broadband. Ford shop and post office was among those affected.
Owner Terry Gordon claimed broadband is vital to the business as he sends order for the shop electronically, and instead this week has had to do so manually.
He said: “This is a busy period because we have a good few orders in early for Christmas week. It is amazing how much you actually depend on internet when you have got it.”
The Great Northumberland Bread Company, based on the Ford and Etal estates, was another still without broadband.
Many of its orders for its weekly deliveries are taken by e-mail and co-owner Zoe Rawlings last night said many people would have been sending theirs in, unaware that the business was not receiving them.
More orders have had to be taken by phone because of the disruption.
Mrs Rawlings said: “It has been an absolute nightmare. I think we have got a bit too used to the internet too quickly.
“It is particularly bad because it is before Christmas.”
Mr Banks was still without his broadband last night and has been having to travel to and from a shop at Cornhill to access his e-mail.
He said: “It is appalling, there is real anger up here.
“It is amazing how people have come to depend in the rural areas on broadband and never thought they would. It is really important, it is as important as a pint of milk, it is like losing your TV signal.”
BT last night said it had located a fault which it claimed was caused by bad weather in the area.
A spokeswoman said: “There is now a specialist team on the case and they are dealing with it as urgent.”
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