A woman was left fuming after engineers from BT’s Openreach plonked a telegraph pole across her driveway.
Chris McNarney, 63, of Sanctuary Way, Grimsby, wants her driveway free from the obstruction and worries it will affect the value of her home.
She said: “If there’s somebody near my other wall, it’s awkward to get in… My daughters have bigger cars and can’t fit.”
“I think it’s going to devalue the house as well, because if I eventually sell, because I’ve lost my husband, it’s going to put someone off.”
The telegraph pole replaces another which had also encroached onto Ms McNarney’s driveway, but the new pole is bigger and blocks off more access.
Ms McNarney told Grimsby Live a BT Openreach representative notified her the old pole was going to be replaced.
She asked for a message to be passed on so the new pole did not encroach on her driveway.
But the new pole is even larger, with Ms McNarney believing it is an “industrial pole” not usually used in residential areas.
She told the same publication: “I said to them it’s not acceptable because you’re over other people’s property.”
Undeterred, she continued to pursue the issue with Openreach and received a letter in September which said the company had found no legal reason to remove, replace or re-site the pole.
It stated the pole had been placed within a square metre of the old one, meaning Ms Mcnarney had no legal right to object.
Ms McNarney said this was what really angered her, claiming: “They’re not prepared to do anything.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands it was contractors who installed the new pole and a BT Openreach engineer recently took photos as part of a rethink.
A BT Openreach spokesperson said: “We’re aware of the impact our equipment can have and the balance between cost effectiveness, aesthetics and safety can be difficult to achieve.
“We’ve visited the property to take photographs of the pole which have been sent to our poling team so they can reexamine the positioning of the pole.
“We’d like to reassure the homeowner that the process will be completed as quickly as possible and that they will be kept updated.” Following the assessment, a decision will be made on if the pole stays in place, or gets moved.”
Ms Mcnarney said: “I know things have to be done, but it’s just how it’s been done and just plonked there it just makes it an issue.
“Not just for me, but for my family as well, and friends, who’ve got bigger cars.”
