A GROUP of Uley residents have been left without a phone line for two weeks – and fear it’s only a matter of time before the “emergency” situation proves to be far worse than an inconvenience.

Resident John Hyde calculated that 36 homes and 85 people have been affected in Shadwell and Elcombe, Uley, after a tree fell onto the cable on Thursday, January 15.

Three elderly residents in the area wear personal alarms connected to the phone line which have been rendered useless as a result of the cut-off.

The tree was first noticed on Thursday morning at about 6am when a man leaving for work notified Philip Rymer, of Phil Rymer Firewood, that a tree was blocking his route to work on the entrance of the cul-de-sac.

Mr Rymer attended the scene with his chainsaw and removed parts of the tree, leaving the cable intact.

It wasn’t until about 1.30pm, when BT Openreach workers cut the cable for health and safety reasons, that the homes were cut off.

Since then, those living in the area without landline phones or internet have grown increasingly aggravated by BT’s lack of action. Various contrasting dates for repair were given to residents.

Judy Bowler, 62, who lives in Shadwell with her husband, was one of the victims of the disconnection.

She said: “I’m one of the lucky ones. There are some people that don’t have mobiles, some people that are elderly and suffering from health problems.

“There are three people with an emergency button attached to their phones.

“The fact is that one of these elderly people could die if they’re unable to use their phone in an emergency.”

A neighbour of Mrs Bowler, John Hyde, has been spreading word of the situation to draw attention to the problem. He said: “There are three people in the area who are over 90 and seven over 80.

“If they had to go and phone 999 they would have great difficulty.

“People are really tearing their hair out over this. We feel it is an emergency as opposed to a minor convenience.”

John Rymer, the father of Philip Rymer, works at Elcombe Farm just past the main groups of houses.

He said: “I can’t understand why they haven’t just put some temporary cables up until sorting the problem.”

Gloucestershire County Council for Dursley Steve Lydon was informed of the issue and wrote an email to BT’s CEO Gavin Patterson making him aware of the issue and seeking an answer.

He said: “I think it’s absolutely disgusting.

“These people pay their money to pay their charges and they expect a proper service.”

A spokeswoman for BT described the situation as “regrettable” and said yesterday that the company was looking to fix the situation by the end of the week.

She added: “We need to replace the pole and four spans of overhead cable. It’s in hand to do the work by the end of the week.”