JH Ware, of Thurlestone, writes:

As summer turns to autumn, I regret to report that some residents in Thurlestone are still without phone or broadband.

Since I last wrote to the Gazette in August, our own service has been broken and repaired on six occasions. Each time it breaks, like some nightmare game of snakes and ladders, you return to the bottom of the queue and have to wait another five to seven days for the fault to be repaired again.

I have spoken to a number of people in the area who are all experiencing a similar problem and are equally frustrated. Like many in the area, we have no mobile reception, so any communication with the outside world requires getting in the car and driving to the nearest hill, where reception is possible.

The parish council has written to BT about the problem, but has not been given the ­courtesy of a reply. However, in fairness to BT, I think it must be suffering from a broadband fault itself, as it never replies to any of my emails.

During the past four months we have had numerous visits from Openreach engineers. The last one to visit explained that he couldn’t do anything as he had forgotten his line tester.

Judging by the lack of success that BT has had reconnecting Thurlestone to the rest of the world, I think the company may have also misplaced its repair manual.

The organisation seems impervious to criticism and treats its customers with utter contempt, yet it has a monopoly of the phone lines and exchanges.

It is a monopoly that should be broken at the earliest opportunity, as the service it provides is totally unacceptable.