PHONE and internet services have been cut in parts of Crowthorne and Sandhurst after thieves reportedly stole copper cabling.

Residents and businesses across the area were hit by the outages shortly before midnight on Thursday, and by Monday morning service had still not been restored.

Reader Sue Brooks contacted The Bracknell News to say that wiring from BT cables were believed to have been stolen from behind Broadmoor.

She said: "It is affecting businesses, homes and even the vulnerable with emergency buttons. We have been told we won't hear anything until 5pm on Monday. There must be hundreds who are without it."

BT Openreach, which maintains the telephone lines, said around 600m of underground cabling needed replacing.

An Openreach spokesperson said: “We are doing all we can to restore telephone and broadband service in the Crowthorne and Sandhurst areas. Our network was unfortunately damaged last week, and as a result we’re having to replace around 600 metres of underground cable.

"Engineers are working as quickly as they can and we expect services to start being reconnected later today (Monday). Anybody who is experiencing issues with their phone or broadband should contact their service provider in the first instance.”