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Businesses in Elgin hit after bin fire knocks out internet and phone services

Elgin bin fire
A multi-agency effort is underway to tackle 'deliberate' bin fires in Elgin

Businesses in Elgin have been left without internet and phone services after a bin fire.

The fire, on the corner of South Street and Thunderton Place was brought under control by a fire crew in the early hours of Sunday.

But a cable was damaged by the blaze and local phone and internet provision in some parts of the town centre remains unavailable.

While some business in the town centre have been able to use 4G and data to get online access, others – especially those who use the cloud – have had issues with accessing appointments and payment information.

Thunderton Place. Picture by Google.

Two offices in the town centre have had to close, and there may be a knock on effect to businesses who are reliant on passing trade.

Sarah Holmes, the owner of Pencil Me In on Batchen Street, fears some shops may now miss out on sales in the lead-up to Father’s Day.

She said: “The fire has wiped out phone and internet in the area and many businesses and homes in the area are impacted.

90% of sales are by card

“Thankfully we can pick up 4G and we can use that with our card machine. Sadly not all businesses are in the same situation.

“Some have now been forced to take cash. Others have cloud-based appointment systems and they are unable to get into them by using 4G.”

Ms Holmes added that before the pandemic there would have been 50% of sales in cash, since then 90% of sales are in card.

“So, this has a huge impact, especially in the run up to Father’s Day, with people not being in town for the offices we will miss out.

“It is not ideal. We are being told it may have been a cigarette in the bin. But this is the third time there has been an incident in the town centre that has impacted on business, so right now it does not feel random.”

A fire spokesman said: “We were called in the early hours of Sunday morning to a fire in a wheelie bin just to the rear of a property in Elgin.

“We arrived on scene at 4.44am and extinguished the fire. We used one hose reel jet and the stop sign came through at 5.20am.

“We are not investigating the matter further.”

Openreach has told customers it hopes to resolve the issue by Friday.

A spokeswoman said: “A broadband cabinet has been completely destroyed following the fire in an adjacent wheelie bin, and we’re sorry for the disruption to local services.

“Engineers have assessed the extent of the damage and arranged for the site to be cleared, and are working to replace the cabinet and get power restored.

“We plan to build the new cabinet on Wednesday and then start reconnecting all the individual fibres to local homes and businesses.

“We aim to have the majority back in service by the end of Thursday, subject to further damage being found in the network while repairs take place.”

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