We complained about an ugly pole and now our entire street won’t get fast broadband – even though rest of town will

Residents on a street who spoke out against an “ugly mast” are angry after their homes were left out of a city-wide internet upgrade.

Residents of Rogers Meadow have been excluded from the rollout of the ultra-fast full fiber broadband network in Marlborough, Wilts, because they want to protect their street’s skyline.

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Openreach should have erected a telegraph pole on the street, but faced strong opposition.

And due to huge public anger, the plans have now been put on hold.

A refusenik who wanted to stay anonymoussaid: “It’s nonsense because most people don’t want the mast and it’s just a small street so it would ruin the skyline.”

“It was a very large pole, it was like going back in time and there were wires everywhere, it looked like a chicken coop.”

“How would you like it?” Nowadays these things should disappear underground, it’s an ugly thing.”

After several complaints, those protesting the plans were told that no mast would be erected.

However, when workers arrived on scene with a pole on Thursday, September 7, they rushed to emergency stations.

After speaking to residents, the installation team reportedly left the building without carrying out any work and will not be returning, according to Openreach.

The company confirmed it would not be erecting poles on the road in Rogers Meadow after consulting with locals.

As a result, residents of Rogers Meadow will not be able to upgrade to ultra-fast full fiber on the Openreach network, although the company’s construction of the rest of the town will progress as planned.

An Openreach spokesman said: “Our engineers and construction partners are working hard to bring ultra-fast, highly reliable full-fibre broadband to Marlborough. Not only will this have a huge impact.” Advantages for families and businesses in the region, but also a welcome boost for the local economy.

“Wherever possible, we use existing infrastructure such as masts and ducts when building full fiber. We are aware of the visual impact our equipment can have and it can be difficult to achieve a balance between cost effectiveness, aesthetics and safety.

“Therefore, there are times when we simply cannot avoid erecting masts to provide services efficiently, safely and in a technically sound manner.

“In this case, a new mast was the only possible way to deliver ultra-fast full fiber cable, but due to residents’ objections we removed this road from our construction plan.”