BT has apologised to a family forced out of their home by a fire after getting its wires crossed when trying to redirect a phone line.
Three generations of the family, including two young children, escaped from the house in Castle Street, Fortrose, when a fire broke out on January 15.
The house owner Lois MacDonell, who is in her 70s, her daughter Penny MacDonnell DeJesus, 44, and Mrs DeJesus’s children Vivienne, six, and Mark, four, have since been staying in temporary accommodation.
The family contacted BT after the fire to have calls to the house transferred to their temporary home.
But the phone number Mrs MacDonell has used for the past 39 years was re-allocated to a house at No 9 Wester Links in Fortrose, rather than No 19.
While the family have since had a phone line and broadband installed, they have been told restoring the original number may take several more days, with no guarantee it can be reinstated.
Mrs DeJesus said: “The old number is important as my mother has had it since she moved into the house.
“It feels to her like the fire took away the house and now the number has been taken away too.
“She is not of the mobile generation and hundreds of people have that number, so it is really inconvenient.”
A BT spokesman said: “We’re really sorry about the problems Mrs MacDonell and her family have faced since they had to move after the fire.
“We’re in regular touch with Mrs MacDonell’s daughter to keep her updated. We know this is a stressful time so we’re doing our best to put things right quickly.”
