skyline

Openreach and their monopoly stink. I bought farmland 14 years ago. Openreach dug holes in it without my consent to access a fault on a line to neighbour. I didn't even know it was there and not responsible for the fault. No wayleave, easement or private consent exists. I objected to the trespass and said they were not to go there again without contacting me first. Openreach ignored me and did it again, eventually causing an accident with a temporary cable. Other things distracted me until October 2020, when I applied for a connection there myself, through SSE. Openreach didn't get on with it, and I started chasing SSE without result. In December I snagged a local engineer who ran in a temporary surface cable (unlawfully) across neighbouring land, but it's very vulnerable and will get ripped out if spotted. After that, nothing. In an attempt to get Openreach to make the short, simple, lawful connection available to them, I contacted their wayleaves department and warned them they risked removal of the lines to other customers if they didn't connect me properly. They sent me a wayleave document and an offer of payment, but that makes me liable for damage to the service (as has already happened) and may happen again because it's too shallow for cultivation and is not ducted. They also won't recognise that their trespass was reported to them in 2008 and only want to pay from now onwards! Seeking corroboration of the date from a neighbour affected, I asked if she remembered the previous fault - and was immediately attacked! She accused me of damaging her line and preventing its repair, despite there being a wayleave. All wrong. This is what Openreach probably told her because they failed to fix it for 3 weeks in 2008. Yeah, blame me, of course, and blacken my name for 14 years, why not? Now I am a target for abuse. Next she called the Police and accused me of trying to run her over (disproved by my dashcam), and then sparked a vendetta against me involving another neighbouring landowner who also called the police (same day, historic complaint, Police spotted that immediately and warned him off). Four and a half months in, my patience has expired with Openreach and the neighbour. I am issuing a Notice to Quit for their services and an application to the Ombudsman about their failure to connect my service properly. Don't underestimate the casual malice of Openreach when their own inadequacies are exposed.