A SURGERY in Alconbury is operating on only one phone line after thieves stole a section of cable. Patients are facing long queues to get through on the phones — and a sister surgery at Brampton is also affected. More than 100 phone lines in the Alconbur

A SURGERY in Alconbury is operating on only one phone line after thieves stole a section of cable.

Patients are facing long queues to get through on the phones - and a sister surgery at Brampton is also affected.

More than 100 phone lines in the Alconbury and Brampton areas are affected by the incident, which it is thought happened on Tuesday evening.

A number of businesses are also affected, including car company Flexible Travel. Richard Vanbergen, from the firm, said: "We are operating on mobile phones at the moment which is obviously costing us a lot of money."

Early indications are that it could be two weeks before the phone lines are repaired.

A spokesman for British Telecom said: "We have suffered third party damage to two of our underground cables in this area and the police have been informed.

"We currently have around 130 faults, and this figure is rising. We cannot give a firm date of completion at this time as we are assessing the damage and impact.

"It is regrettable when BT suffers third party damage to its network, we will do all we can to restore service as soon as is possible."

INFORMATION: Anyone with information on the theft should contact Cambridgeshire police on 0845 456 456 4. Are you affected? Email editor@huntspost.co.uk or call the newsdesk on 01480 411481.