'I will change if things don't get resolved' - EE customers vow to leave network unless connectivity issues across a Staffordshire village are fixed

Jayne Taylor is one of the Penkridge residents that has been affected, and after setting up an online group for locals to share their connection issues she has discovered the number of people struggling has only increased since the problem was first raised nearly two months ago.

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"I've had over 60 responses from people saying they've also been affected, and some of those are worried about their parents - who are in their 80's - being unable to use their phones," she explained. "This has been going on since the end of May, and we've had umpteen excuses from EE since.

"They're saying they need access to land, but surely when you put these telephone poles on a piece of land in the terms and conditions say you need access to the mast.

"We're being told its this, that and the other, but no one can get to the bottom of it. All we get is an automated email saying they're sorry its taking longer than usual.

"EE aren't calling people back, and then when they do you can't even hear them."

Jayne told the Express & Star that the problems she has faced with her mobile phone so far include: 'the phone cutting out, allowing SOS calls only, sounding like a phone call made underwater, and sometimes saying the it is on airplane mode when in the car.'

"It's causing a really big problem for a lot of people, and its getting worse," Jayne said. "I've been with EE for years and years and I never had a problem, but my friends started telling me they couldn't hear me properly. I kept switching it off and turning it on again, and then it started telling me I had no bars of service before cutting calls off completely.

"We're all experiencing the same problems now, and you just can't use your phone to make calls.

"There's something not right. First we were told it was a mast by the vets, then they said its a mast by the garage, and then someone said its a mast in Congreve that they're waiting for access to. Its as though they're fobbing us off."

Six weeks after the first problems were raised by locals, Jayne admitted that she and many others are now having to consider switching network providers unless the problem is resolved by EE, one of the UK's biggest mobile-network operators.

"A couple have already (changed provider) and it is something I'm considering," she admitted. "Someone put on the group this week that her 80-year-old mother was about to switch to EE, and was wondering if she should reconsider. At the moment I would say yes, because there are at least three or four people I know who are worried they won't be able to get hold of their parents because they've got no landline.

"Some people had been told that there would be a site visit on July 2, but we didn't know where because there are so many masts.

"They've not updated anything since then, all we get is a standard automated message saying 'we know there is a problem in your area that is taking longer than expected to resolve, and we will continue to update you.'

"I will change if things don't get resolved, but I've only just renewed my contract. They say that they'll give you your money back, and to ring them again if its not working by the end of July.

"I've never had a problem before this, but I'd have to consider moving because we're just not getting any answers from them and I feel as though they're not being honest with us."