FURIOUS residents say they have been left without working phone lines for weeks.

Cable problems at Steeton mean many people have not been able to use their landlines.

Amongst those affected is Judith Sharp, who says her phone started to crackle and then went dead on July 1.

"We contacted our provider who told us that the line was clear," she said.

"Eventually we decided our equipment must be at fault, so we bought a new phone – but there was no improvement.

"I have since discovered that dozens of people in the Steeton area have no landline, theirs also having gone dead on or about July 1.

"It's impossible to contact Openreach, and anyone who has managed to get through is instructed to 'contact your provider'. Given that there are many different providers, but Openreach owns and maintains the actual lines, this must be an Openreach problem but it is refusing to acknowledge that.

"Over recent weeks there have been many Openreach personnel in the area, supposedly carrying out some sort of survey prior to new broadband coming. It cannot be a coincidence that this problem has arisen just when all these people have been messing about with the phone lines.

"If anyone rings an affected number, the caller either gets the engaged signal or it goes straight to voicemail. If I pick up my receiver, there's nothing at all.

"Given that a lot of people – myself included – do not have mobile phones, this could quite easily turn into a life-threatening situation if the emergency services were needed."

Openreach told the Keighley News that the problem was due to a cable fault, and that engineers were working to restore services as quickly as possible – with many customers already back up and running.

It said "complex" traffic management would be needed to complete the repairs.

Openreach adds that the affected cable – which connects to 400 customers – is partially operational, so not everyone was impacted.

A spokesperson said: "We’re very sorry for any inconvenience and disruption caused to people living and working in the Steeton area who may be experiencing issues with their phone or broadband.

"Engineers are working to repair a cable fault, with many customers already back up and running. Complex traffic management is required for the final section of repair and the team is working to secure permission for that to go ahead."