A PENSIONER has been without a landline in her home for more than a month, leaving her unable to communicate with her family.

Gwen Hugman first noticed her telephone wasn’t working when a friend popped round to see her at her Oakley home, after being unable to get through on the phone.

But despite friends and family continuously chasing Talk Talk and BT Openreach, the problem is has still not been resolved.

The 84-year-old mother-of-three and grandmother-of-three, of Turnpike Way, has her phone service provided by Talk Talk, but the line is owned by BT Openreach.

Her daughter, Julie Fearon, told The Gazette: “It’s been a complete nightmare. I live in Kent but I can’t get hold of her.”

She added: “The engineers have been out and they dug up a hole on the pathway and they were waiting for BT Openreach but they didn’t turn up so they filled it in again. It seems to be going nowhere. I think the difficulty is between Talk Talk and Openreach because they might be arguing over who is going to foot the cost. They don’t seem to care that she’s on her own at that age.”

In order to communicate with her mother, Julie has to telephone her brother who lives in North Waltham, who then visits Gwen to check that she is okay.

“I have been down for a weekend to see her but I can’t talk to her unless she’s somewhere else,” said Julie, adding: “She does have a mobile but it doesn’t have signal.”

Julie said the phone is a “lifeline” to her mother, who lives alone, adding: “The engineers have confirmed that the problem is outside of the house and their responsibility but it is still not rectified. Friends and neighbours have kindly been continuously telephoning the provider - Talk Talk - and BT Openreach to try to push the issue as a matter of urgency as an elderly lady living on her own without a telephone is clearly a worry.”

Talk Talk declined to comment and BT failed to respond to a request for a comment.