Many still without phones

AROUND 100 households mainly in the westside of Shetland are still without phones more than one week after severe electrical storms hit the islands.

BT said on Friday that in the wake of last Wednesday’s thunderstorms between 300 and 400 customers had reported faults on their lines.

A spokesman said: “Every available engineer has been working to restore service and Openreach have drafted in additional engineers from Skye, the western isles and Caithness.

“Around 100 faults are still outstanding and engineers will again work throughout the weekend to restore as many as they can.

“However, lightning damage is notoriously difficult to repair. Lightning can cause multiple faults on an individual line, so clearing the damage can be a process of elimination and is painstaking work.”