ELDERLY residents were among hundreds of homeowners in Cricklewood who were left without a phone line for more than a week.

Residents on one side of Clitterhouse Crescent were not able to use their phones for ten days, following a fault with a BT cable.

Michael Carr, 72, noticed his connection was not working on Monday, November 22 after setting up his new computer.

Mr Carr is a musical composer and uses the internet to sell his records.

Speaking earlier this week, he said: “I’ve tried calling BT on my mobile, but it was always an answer machine — I just wanted to speak to someone.

“I’ve spoken to two elderly people on the road who are really worried — one of them is a lady over 90.

“It’s urgent for elderly people to be able to speak to someone if they need to — this is such a disaster.”

BT started work to restore the lines on Friday and estimated there were around 400 to 500 customers affected in the area.

A spokesperson for BT said: “New cables needed to be installed to restore the service. As the work was on the busy A41 dual carriageway, we had to use temporary traffic lights which have added to the time it’s taken to repair.”

BT added that as of yesterday afternoon, all the phone lines had been repaired.