WORK started today on fixing the phone network in Chalfont St Peter - more than a week after the system went down.

Water damaged cables led to a telecommunications blackout in the village last Monday.

Engineers from BT have now started to fix the fault - but angry residents said work should have started sooner.

One resident, a Mrs Hawken, said she couldn't be certain if her messages of complaint to the communications company were being picked up.

The Grange Close resident said: "You can't get through to talk to anyone. We don't know what's wrong and how much longer it will be like this because you can't speak to anyone. We don't know if the messages are being picked up.

"I'm very concerned about some of the elderly people who don't have computers. They are completely stranded. If there's an emergency, what are they going to do?

"This is causing considerable hardship. How much longer is this going on for? There's not been a squeak from anybody."

Ian Read, spokesman for BT, said: "Service has been affected in the Chalfont St Peter area, due to water damaged cable. Traffic management has been arranged for Wednesday, May 21, when Openreach engineers can start the repair work of the damaged cable which is very complex and time-consuming.

"We apologise to those people who have been affected. Openreach engineers will work as fast as they can to restore service as quickly as possible."