Phones cut as metal thieves steal cable from ground

Hundreds of homes in a Staffordshire village have been left without telephone landlines – after metal thieves stole almost 4,000ft of underground cable.

The raiders targeted the village of Colton, near Rugeley, in the early hours of yesterday, climbing down manholes and dragging the cable across fields.

The lines could be down for up to a week.

Police have posted letters to householders affected, appealing for information.

The cable, believed to contain copper wiring, was ripped out from the junction of Bellamour Way, along the Colton Road.

Chris and Georgia Hine, who run the Ye Olde Dun Cow pub restaurant in High Street, have been unable to use their credit card machine and have had to borrow payment forms from a neighbouring pub to carry out manual transactions.

Around 800 people live in the village, some of whom are served by overhead cables with the rest receiving their phone connections via underground lines.

BT spokeswoman Emma Tennant said the company had received dozens of complaints from villagers left without telephone connection.

"It is extremely regrettable when we suffer any kind of attack on our network. Our priority is always to restore services to those affected quickly," she said.