Vodafone are ringing in the new year with an apology to customers in Collier Row who have been without phone signal since the end of October.

After being told by the mobile network that the problems, caused by a decommissioned mast, would be fixed in December, outraged residents have hit out at the company.

Sylvia Patten, of Cornwell Way, tried to cancel her contract last month, and was told she would have to pay £295 for early termination.

“I’m still paying the direct debit but they’re not getting £295 when I have no signal,” she said. “My husband is an maintenance engineer for an estate agent and it’s affecting his work, he’s missing calls. I wonder how many people are affected.

“I’ve been with Vodafone 10 years – they are not looking after their customers. I’ll be leaving as soon as I can.”

Vodafone have said they cannot waive the £295 fee for Sylvia, as contracts state they “can’t guarantee fault free service,” but they are offering customers affected for three or more days a reimbursement on the line rental costs.

A spokeswoman said: “We’re sorry we were unable to complete the works to our replacement site during the Christmas break.

“Access was refused when we arrived on site due to routine maintenance over-running. We have asked for permission to attend the site on Saturday.

“We’re sorry our customers have been inconvenienced.”

The Recorder covered the story in October shortly after the loss of signal, when a Vodafone spokeswoman explained the problem affecting a two-mile radius was caused by a landlord asking them to vacate the site, which had to be decommissioned as a result.

With a replacement in hand and the situation being treated as a priority the company said it was working hard to fix it as soon as possible.