Ashford residents without phone lines for two months

Other residents of the A2 Dominion regeneration scheme on the road have also been without landlines and internet access since moving in late last year.

Mrs Bone said her daughter has had three fits since moving in, and due to a lack of a land line, and because she doesn't receive mobile signal in the house, she can't call the emergency services.

She said: "I have been told that if the fit lasts longer than five minutes I have to ring 999. Luckily that hasn't happened yet, but the only way I can call on my mobile is to leave the house, and the last thing I want to do is leave her when she is like that."

She said that one resident's father is in hospital with cancer, and said she cannot update calls on her condition.

Pat Fowler, another resident of the road, was made redundant last year from the tool hire industry, and said the lack of a land line makes it difficult for him to look for a job.

He said: "It makes it quite difficult because I can't get on-line and look on job searching websites, so I have to go down to the job centre. It is hard because of the recession."

Jacqueline Mantle, lives with her daughter Jen who attends Roehampton University.

She said: "My daughter can't use the internet so has to travel into Roehampton everyday to use the internet and write her essays. Plus it is costing me so much money to ring people on my mobile all the time. I still think BT will charge us when they put the lines in, but I think they should just give us compensation."

A spokeswoman for BT said contractors previously started on the work but found they will be working close to the National Grid.

She said: "We will need to replace cabling in Convent Road and this requires a dig to prepare the network from the cabinet to the boundary of the new estate.

"As a result of this we are working with them to ensure a safe way of working. We do apologise for the inconvenience and delay to customers living in St Michaels Road and we are doing all we can to minimise the delay, but strict safety guidelines need to be followed before the work can proceed."