Nearly a dozen residents of a north-east village have been without a phone line for nearly 10 weeks.
Fears have been raised about the safety of Portsoy’s elderly residents due to the ongoing issue, which has seen many without a phone since before Christmas.
BT has said it is aware of the issue but that engineers are unable to fixed the damaged cables due ongoing works nearby.
Councillor Ian Gray, who lives in the village, said last night it was a matter of priority at that the affected homes were able to make calls to the emergency services and their loved ones.
And with a solution looking like it could still be “weeks away”, Mr Gray admitted he was concerned for the village’s elderly community.
He said: “The phones are still off and it could still take a turn for the worst.
“They’ve been off for about 10 weeks, and it is absolutely becoming a safety issue. There’s elderly people in this area and it could get to the point where someone doesn’t have a phone to call for help when they need it.”
Mr Gray – who yesterday visited neighbour Margaret Wood who has been without a phone since December 8 – is also concerned that the lack of phones could soon impact tourist trade to the area.
Portsoy, famous for its historic harbour and boat festival, attracts thousands of people to the north-east each summer and last year was the scene for the film remake of Whisky Galore starring comedian Eddie Izzard.
There is concern now, however, that if holiday-makers are unable to make calls from the village, they may give it a miss.
Local MSP Stewart Stevenson added that he was “extremely disappointed” with the situation.
“At this stage I have still been left with no firm indication from BT as to when this matter will be resolved, which is completely unacceptable given the length of time this has been ongoing, although I do know they are working on coming up with a solution.”
BT has apologised for the problem they described as a “fault”.
A spokeswoman for the company said that engineers were unable to complete work to fix damaged cables running underground Portsoy due to the construction of a bridge over the Loch of Soy.
“An alternative route had to be sought,” she added.
“This includes going round the back of the bridge and onto private property, which required legal permission from the landowner and further roadworks. These are now secured and work can start on Monday. BT engineers will be working hard to restore services as soon as possible via this alternative route.”