Cornish villagers in 'mobile blackspot' fear rural isolation after losing internet access for weeks

• Watch people in Cornwall talk to ITV News' Charlotte Gay about the connectivity outage

People in a Cornwall village saying they're facing rural isolation after an outage in their "mobile blackspot" has left them without internet or phone service for nearly a month.

The neighbours in north Trekeive, near Liskeard, say network providers are not taking the modern day need for connectivity seriously.

Residents say people are missing doctors’ calls, unable to contact banks, or order in groceries.

Jean Bignall has rheumatoid arthritis and is one villager who is feeling the impacts of rural isolation and being cut off from essential services.

Jean said: "Telephone calls from doctors I've missed because they just can't get hold of me.

"That's so worrying because I've got rheumatoid arthritis, so I need to have that contact really. And also shopping, you know, is an issue.

"We're in the country. You know, our nearest shop is two miles away. I couldn't possibly walk there because of my arthritis so I rely on online shopping."

It’s the second time in a few months that residents in the village have been left without internet or phone service.

Residents say there was another outage in early August which left them with similar issues and took three weeks to repair.

Chris Joseph says the community is disadvantaged because providers have left them living off the grid.

Chris said: “If we want to try to get a signal, which I can assure you is not here, I've got to walk up to the top of the dam at the very top. I can get a signal there.

He added "Failing that, I've got to go. I'll go in the car and just go up to the top of the lane or something like that. So we are actually in a mobile blackspot.

"There's no provider that can give us a good signal."

Chris’ wife, Jean Joseph, said BT offered them a “mini hub” to boost a 4G signal but they get “intermittent” 4G signal so it isn’t a viable option.

Debbie Lucas-Penhall is a restaurant owner at Golitha Falls and has been frustrated by poor internet so has taken connectivity into its own hands - needing a stable internet for customers paying by card.

She said: "We were down for about three weeks in August, our busiest time in the year.

"And as you can imagine, if you can't take card payment, then you're back to cash. Nobody wants that anymore.

"So we've rigged up a mobile network system spinning off hotspots."

It’s believed the previous outage in August is unrelated to the current incident.

Openreach said it is aware of the issue which was caused by damage to overhead cabling by trees.

A spokesperson said: "We're very sorry for the disruption residents have been experiencing.

"Our network has been extensively damaged by trees and new overhead cabling is required.

"Our engineers will complete the repairs as quickly as possible."