A remote Hebridean island was without mobile phone coverage for a fortnight, leaving residents in fear of their lives.
People on Colonsay in Argyll couldn’t call their GPs’ mobiles after the Vodafone signal went down on October 7.
The 130 islanders were also unable to contact the Coastguard chief on Colonsay.
Community development officer Hannah MacAllister said: “Vodafone are being completely unhelpful, it is really hard to get an answer from anyone there.
“It is pretty bad not being able to use mobiles when you need them. Everyone on the island has a landline but that is not very helpful if you are out walking and something bad happens.”
Another islander pointed out that GPs couldn’t be contacted if they were out and about, as calls to the surgery divert to their Vodafone mobiles. He added that the coastguard chief also has a Vodafone mobile.
A spokeswoman for Vodafone said: “We’re sorry some of our customers on Colonsay have been experiencing signal problems. BT tried to reach the island on October 11 and 15 but weather conditions made crossing impossible.”
The fault was rectified on Wednesday.
A BT spokesman added: “Engineers were able to visit Colonsay on the ferry and they restored service to the Vodafone transmitter.”