Dave Thompson MSP

Dave Thompson, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch is urging anyone who noticed any suspicious activity prior to the loss of phone signal which affected around 7000 customers in Skye, Lochalsh and the Western Isles to phone the police.

The incident occurred after a telephone cable was damaged in the Stromeferry/Lochcarron area by thieves who thought that the cable was made of copper. The damage to the fibre cable took place at low tide at Strathcarron and high tide meant that repair work could only take place at the next low tide. Phone lines, broadband and cash machines were all affected. Mr Thompson said, “The impact of the damage to the telephone cable is massive because it meant that people lost access to emergency numbers such as 999 or NHS 24, as well as being unable to access the internet or take out cash from ATMs. The majority of the communities affected are rural and remote, and they depend on the telephone and the internet. The numpties responsible for the damage apparently thought they were carting off valuable copper and have caused havoc to countless households across Skye, Lochalsh and the Western Isles.

“BT engineers and the police did a wonderful job to ensure that local communities were affected as little as possible and to reconnect thousands of houses to the telephone network within a matter of hours after accessing the cable at low tide. I would also like to congratulate OpenReach for offering a reward of £1000 to anybody who can resolve the investigation by turning in the perpetrators.

“I strongly urge anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity in the area to contact the Police on 01478 612 888 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”