A Speyside couple have been left without a phone or internet connection for nearly a month after lightning wreaked havoc to their community.
Ronnie Noble and his wife, June, were awoken at 5am on Wednesday, July 20, when a massive thunderstorm erupted over their home.
The telephone exchange which serves the property and others in the vicinity was struck by lightning as the powerful storm reached its worst.
The bolts caused electricity to surge through the Nobles’ home and blew apart their telephone wiring system.
Since then, they have become increasingly frustrated in their attempts to ensure BT repairs the damage.
The telecommunications firm responded that the ferocious conditions caused them to receive “four times the usual amount” of calls for that time of year.
And a spokesman added that engineers would need to replace an underground cable to redress the damage, which will require permission from the local authority.
However, Mr Noble has pointed out that his neighbours, who also suffered telephone problems as a result of the bad weather, have already had their lines returned to working order.
The former restaurateur said: “I’ve been trying to have this fixed for four weeks now and we’ve been pushed about from pillar to post.
“We are really getting irate now, because nobody has explained how our neighbours’ lines have been fixed, but ours haven’t been.”
Mr Noble has now approached his local MP, Angus Robertson, to intervene in the matter.
A BT spokesman pledged to ensure the work was completed “as soon as possible” but could not offer any guarantee on a specific time.
He added: “Following extensive lightning damage across the north-east, we received around four times the usual number of faults for the time of year.
“Many customers are served by single cables into their homes and, if these are damaged, it can mean painstaking work to restore each individual line, especially with lightning damage.”
The firm has drafted in extra engineers from across the UK to help the local crews fix the faults.
The spokesman added: “In this case, the fault has been traced to an underground cable.
“To repair the cable safely, traffic management and local authority permissions are required.
“Engineers are liaising with the council to complete this work as soon as possible and we’re sorry for any inconvenience.”
