A WHEELCHAIR bound elderly woman who lives in fear of heart attacks has been reconnected to her life-line thanks to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

Widow Winifred Lank, 74, had been unable to make emergency telephone calls from her home in Cowell Way, Blackburn, since late last Friday when vandals cut the line.

Her neighbour Thomas Moran recruited the help of his local paper after appeals to British Telecom failed to get the phone back in use.

He said: "Mrs Lank has been in and out of hospital for years with heart problems and her phone is vital if she feels a twinge.

"The police informed BT the phone line had been cut and I got in touch with the company twice.

"We were told an engineer could come out immediately if £60 was paid but otherwise no set time can be given.

"We can't thank the Telegraph enough for helping to get things moving."

A spokesman for British Telecom said: "We are sorry about the delay in repairing the phone line and understand the urgency of the situation.

"Unfortunately, the recent bad weather conditions caused a bit of a backlog for our engineers. The £60 Mrs Lank was quoted is a standard fee for all out-of-hours repairs."

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