Oxfordshire pub owner describes landline outage as 'another nail in the coffin' for business

Watch: Residents and businesses tell ITV News Meridian's Mel Bloor how not having a landline has caused them stress and anxiety

Residents in an Oxfordshire village who have been without a landline for almost two weeks say it is causing them stress and anxiety as they struggle to contact their families and run their businesses.

Mobile reception in Ardington is poor and around 400 homes have been affected by the outage after thieves stole 500 metres of underground copper cable.

Sisters Angela and Doreen have been running the Boars Head in Ardington for 10 years.

Having survived the pandemic, they're facing new pressures caused by the cost of living crisis.

Every reservation in their restaurant is crucial but at the moment no one can call them to book.

Angela, joint landlady, said: "It's just like another nail in the coffin to be honest, I mean it is tough times in business.

"I appreciate that lots of businesses are in tough time but for pubs and restaurants it's really been hard and this with no phones has exacerbated it all really."

Initially residents were told by Openreach that it would be fixed within a week, but almost a fortnight on and the issue still hasn't been resolved.

Doreen, joint landlady, added: "It's definitely impacted on us. We might have had a booking for somebody for eight and then they haven't been able to tell us that they're now only a four or only a two or they can't come. We've kind of had this constant juggling act every time we open."

Doreen and Angela are also worried that their brother who has learning difficulties can't contact them if he needs their help.

Kevin lives by himself in the village so regularly checks in with his sisters to let them know he is ok.

He also needs to be able to call his carer on the landline as the mobile signal in the area is so poor.

Openreach has told residents it hopes to have their landlines back up and running by the end of this week.

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