In 2016 tech giant Virgin Media named 30 rural communities which will gain access to its fibre-to-the-premises network. North Leigh, West Oxfordshire was selected as one of those to be a part of the £3 billion upgrade.
However, the good news about the upgrade soon ended in chaos as homes were left without power, internet or phone lines and some without access to their own drives.
County Councillor for the area, Liam Walker was contacted by a resident who was angry her power had been cut off for over 24 hours due to the works.
He said, "After hearing from a resident I decided to visit Windmill Road for myself and I couldn't believe the state of the site. There were barriers everywhere, holes still exposed, cables hanging out - the list goes on. I took photos and passed them onto our street works team at Oxfordshire County Council who shared my views that this site was unsafe."
Local resident Nicola Ann Carter said, "I live in North Leigh and it's a mess, it's no wonder there hasn't been an accident. I hope it's finished before the kids go back as the parking is really bad already without this happening."
Another resident added, "Great work Liam! All I can say is I will never have Virgin Media!"
After Cllr Walker arranged a meeting with Virgin Media and intervention from Oxfordshire County Council officers they quickly rectified the problems and have since removed one of the contractors from a future site in North Leigh.
Liam added "With things now back to normal I'm confident this tech giant won't be making the same mistakes again!"
"I want to thank residents who contacted me about this problem."
Comments