Residents have been left without a mobile phone signal or wi-fi for more than 10 days after a mast was damaged.

People living near Burney Road, running from Rawtenstall to Crawshawbooth, have been left having to travel “miles” away from their homes if they want to make important calls.

The outage has also affected businesses, that can’t take card payments due to the lack of signal and owners are having to turn cashless customers away.

One man says he’s “beyond frustrated” that the issue hasn’t been resolved.

He added: “I work from home full-time as my office is based in London.

“Since the mast went down more than a week ago, I've been driving to Burnley and Ramsbottom to work from cafes and libraries and have to take Teams meetings in my car due to confidentiality.”

The Lancashire Telegraph understands engineers are unable to reach the damaged mast as a landowner won’t give them permission to access it.

The resident, who didn’t wish to be named, added: "It's ridiculous now, surely they should have some kind of clause in the contracts to be able to carry out emergency repairs.

“They can't give me a timeframe but said they will update customers again next week.

"We can't watch TV, access anything online or take calls or messages from people, including telephone doctors' appointments and online classes, unless we drive miles away from home. 

"It might sound like a small inconvenience but it's having a wider impact and we're beyond frustrated now."

Vicky Nelson, from Lea Brook Garden Centre, who has been unable to take card payments, said: “People don’t pay in cash anymore and if they can't pay, then they are walking off-site, and we’re not getting the sale.

Lea Brook Garden CentreLea Brook Garden Centre (Image: Google Maps) “Customers can’t get hold of us either as we’ve got no mobile phone signal.”

Vicky also lives in the area that has been affected by the damaged mast, so she has no wi-fi at home or at work.

She added: “It’s been intermittent since October 18 now.”

Another Rossendale resident, Matt Crook, said: “It has been terrible for me and my family as we all seem to be affected in Crawshawbooth / Loveclough.

“From what I've seen and heard, it seems multiple networks are affected.”

Sophie Jeanette added: “The only place I can get a signal is Asda in Rawtenstall.”

The mast is operated by Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), on behalf of mobile companies EE and Three.

An MBNL spokesperson said: "Regrettably, our equipment cabinet was subject to criminal damage. When these targeted incidents occur, they can cause disturbances to our services, which unfortunately are outside of our control.

"Please rest assured that we are working with the local police and our landowner to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”