Amey apologises after former Sheffield doctor is left 'isolated' with no phone, internet or TV

A roads maintenance firm has apologised after accidentally cutting through electrical wires which left a former doctor without a phone, internet or TV connection.
Birkendale, Upperthorpe. Picture: GoogleBirkendale, Upperthorpe. Picture: Google
Birkendale, Upperthorpe. Picture: Google

The 80-year-old former Crookes Practice GP, who did not want to be named, told how staff from Sheffield Council-contracted firm Amey caused her a week's worth of issues while resurfacing her street at Birkendale, Upperthorpe.

They accidentally cut through wires on January 9 and again two days dater on January 11, knocking off her internet, TV and phone reception.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Workers from Virgin fixed the first problem within a matter of hours, but she had to go the whole night with no connection the second time.

She also told how workmen 'severely cut back' her garden hedge and she felt the need to stay in her home to 'keep an eye on them' for five days, which meant she missed out on a number of appointments.

She said: "It caused me a lot of problems. I am 80-years-old and while I am reasonably fit and healthy, I was left for a night without any real form of communication. I have an old mobile but it always goes off.

"If something happened to me I would have struggled to contact anyone for help."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She added: "They have also really cut back my hedge and coupled with the phone line problems I thought I had best stay in my house for the five days to keep an eye on them while they did the work. I missed an art class, a bridge playing group and a meeting with friends. It left me pretty isolated and was a great inconvenience."

The woman added another neighbour also had their wires cut and a sign was put up saying the work would take four days to complete, but nine days later road workers were still on site.

A spokesperson for Amey said the problem happened as part of maintenance under the Streets Ahead programme to upgrade highway surfaces across the city.

They added: "Ahead of these works, we spoke to the resident on numerous occasions about her hedge substantially overhanging and obstructing the path and agreed with the resident that we would cut back the hedge to her boundary at no cost to her.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Whilst undertaking the hedge cutting we inadvertently cut a Virgin cable which was entangled within the hedge. We apologised to the resident in question and Virgin repaired the cable on the same day.

“Unfortunately during further works near the hedge, the cable was accidentally snagged again and we are sorry for this mistake. The team called the Virgin Site manager who sent out a repair team the next day.

“Once again, we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused to the resident.”