SIR — On January 6 we logged a call with our phone provider to let them know that there was a fault on our phone line.

In less than an hour the line was gone completely and we reported this via a mobile phone.

Two days later an engineer travelled from Barnstaple and traced the fault to a telephone pole in our garden. However, he could not repair the fault as the pole had previously been condemned.

We are now into the fifth week without a phone landline or broadband.

Although Talk Talk have diverted calls to a mobile, and send texts regularly saying that engineers are working on the problem and that we will be updated again in 24, 48 or 72 hours, we are no further forward in having this issue resolved.

We are even told that having a new line fitted to a nearby pole is impossible.

Apparently, Open Reach are inundated with faults due to the severe weather conditions we have recently experienced and we know that others may have waited longer than this for a repair.

We would just like to let others know that if your phone landline is your lifeline, or your business is dependent upon it, you should not take it for granted, especially if it is connected to a decaying, condemned, telephone pole.

J and C Coomber,

Hopcott Close,