'It's like we're blacklisted, you can't get a phone signal anywhere'

In a village near Halifax, many mobile phone users have spent weeks without a signal due to a problem with the local mast. Some residents of Northowram have been unable to use their mobiles for more than two months - and fear for the impact on their personal and working lives.

O2, which owns the masts, says it is aware of the issue and engineers are working to resolve the outage. Road closures and traffic permits are required to undertake the work, and these have been granted for this week.

The signal problem is affecting those who use O2 or any of its subsidiary networks.

Barber Joff Armitage works at The Yorkshire Chair in the village. His partner had a baby eight weeks ago, and he worries that he cannot be contacted if he is needed at home.

"I just had a little girl and if there's an emergency at home, or if my missus is walking out of the village, she can't ring me to let me know.

"She's just going to have to pretty much bolt for the shop... just run and try and get here."

He says he has been experiencing problems for two-and-a-half months, and struggles to get reception from Shelf roundabout to Shibden Park.

"It's like blacklisted, you just can't get a signal anywhere. It's an absolute nightmare.

"If there's roadworks, clients can't ring to let us know they're going to be late.

"So you mark them down as a no-show, crack on with your next one and then they turn up. It's quite bad."

He says not only is it causing him to lose money at work, he is also still paying for a phone that is "pretty much a calculator in your pocket".

"I don't get any texts through, don't get any internet, absolutely nothing. Music won't play, if you're out like on a jog, you can't listen to any streaming platform, you can't do anything, it's had a massive effect.

"It makes you think, what's the point in me paying my phone, because I'm not getting signal unless I'm connected to wi-fi, so I'm paying for something I'm not able to use at all.

"It's pretty much a calculator in your pocket - a calculator and a camera. You can't use anything else."

Grandparents Estelle and Michael Mawson are in their early 60s. They come to Northowram to look after their grandchildren on a Thursday.

The lack of phone signal means they cannot contact their daughter about the boys or carry out everyday activities.

Michael says: "We were actually trying to make a financial transaction about a fortnight ago online, with the banking app, but I couldn't do it because with no reception, no signal.

"So I had to get in my car and drive a mile, so I got the reception and then I'll be able to carry on with the transaction."

Sunny Nahal, 32, works at Lydgate Fisheries and has been having problems for about eight weeks.

"It's quite frustrating not being able to make any calls from any suppliers or receive any calls from any companies or clients or anything, it's quite hard.

"No one's been able to contact me, luckily enough we have a bit of wi-fi but if I'm out and about for a little walk and lunchtime stuff, no one's able to contact me," he says.

"If something happens at home, if my mum calls or another family member, I'm never going to know."

Alan Mitchell runs Northowram Garage MOT and Service Centre, which has served the village since 1985.

He agrees the lack of signal is affecting business.

"You just can't get in touch with your customers," he says.

"There's nobody who can ring you back. You get a text message, eight hours, sometimes a day afterwards saying you've missed a call, and you just can't run a business like that.

"People need to know what a car needs to pass, so you try to tell them it's ready and they've got kids to pick up from school, and you can't get in touch with them.

"It's just an absolute joke. It's like living in a third world country. It's ridiculous."

At Hamilton Bower Estate Agents, Della Howley, 63, says she struggles to contact vendors.

"I have one vendor in particular - she's a joint ownership. I can't ring one sister because she doesn't get any calls at all, so I have to ring somebody else. It's awkward," she says.

She would usually speak to her stepmum every day on the way to work, but now she cannot.

"As I'm getting closer to the Shelf roundabout coming from Stone Chair down into us my signal goes completely and I can't ring out and I don't get any reception at all. It's not ideal," she says.

Janet Green is in her 60s and is waiting for her grandson to return from a school trip.

She has to leave the village to call her elderly mother who gets confused when the signal drops out.

"I can't make that phone call every other day just to see how she is because you can start having a phone call and it just completely disappears," she says.

"It's been going on a lot longer than we anticipated. We've had updates but it keeps going on and on and I think a lot of people are struggling."

Steven Lewis, who is in his 80s, says he has to cross the border from his home in Chorley, Lancashire, because he cannot call his friend Michael for their regular catch-up.

"Every three or four times a week we try to call and contact each other and it's always breaking up," he says.

"The service is absolutely awful so three times a week we have to come over and talk to Michael and Debbie in person so we can have a proper conversation.

"What's going on with this mast in Yorkshire? Over in Lancashire we have a problem but it's not as bad as this I tell you.

"So everybody in Yorkshire should be moving to Lancashire where it could be a lot easier and a lot cheaper to live."

An O2 spokesperson apologised to customers affected for the inconvenience caused.

They said: "We're aware of the mast outage in the Northowram and Illingworth area.

"Our engineers are working to resolve the issue, which requires traffic management permits to complete the necessary work.

"These have now been granted for next week, and we'll be on site as soon as possible to restore services."

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