Pensioner, 90, left with no emergency button for 11 days

A FAULTY phone line left a 90-year-old woman without the use of her emergency call button for nearly two weeks.

There has been no dial tone on Peggy Hopkins’s phone since May 17, meaning she has no way of contacting her concerned family — or raising the alarm with the panic button on her wrist, which is hooked into the phone line.

Mrs Hopkins, who is prone to falling, has left her family increasingly worried that she will be helpless until her line is restored - which isn’t expected until this weekend.

Vicki Mulligan, Mrs Hopkins’s granddaughter, said: “If she has a fall now, no one is going to know. We understand phonelines can go down but this has gone on for far too long. The phone is also her only way of contacting people, so this is a really big deal for her.”

A spokesperson for the Post Office, whch provides the alarm call service, said the phone fault affected several people. We have advised Openreach, who are working to restore the service, that Mrs Hopkins is an elderly customer who should be given priority.”

The problem is a cable damaged by water. Almost 200 metres of cable is being replaced, mainly at night to avoid disruption.