Fife villagers in Freuchie face days without internet after bus hit BT Openreach cabinet

Residents in a Fife village are facing days without internet connection after a bus crash saw a BT connection cabinet damaged.

At around 10.15am on Monday, May 8, emergency services were called to the High Street area of Freuchie following a report that a bus had crashed.

Images from the scene show that a Moffat and Williamson bus had mounted the pavement and had damaged a roadside BT Openreach cabinet.

On Facebook, Freuchie Community Council advised residents that “the outage could last ten to 14 days”.

It said: “Due to an accident impacting the internet connection hub on the High Street, Freuchie is currently without internet connection.

“Work is underway and being prioritised to re-establish connection however, we are being advised by the works manager that the outage could last 10-14 days.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 10.15am on Monday, May 8, 2023, police were called to the High Street area of Freuchie, following a report of a single-vehicle crash, involving a bus.

“Emergency services attended and recovery was arranged.”

An Openreach spokesperson said: “Our network was damaged when a vehicle hit two of our street cabinets in Freuchie, affecting services for around 540 customers.

“We attended and made the area safe, but, given the scale of the damage and the nature of the repairs needed, we expect full restoration works to take several days. Our engineers will do everything they can to reconnect services as quickly as possible.

“We understand how frustrating this must be for anyone who’s affected. We’re sorry for the down time caused by this incident and thank local people for their patience while we get things fixed. We always ask anyone experiencing any disruption with their phone or broadband service to report it to their service provider as soon as they can. Members of the public report any damage or unsafe equipment on our network via the Help and Support section of our website.”

Moffat and Williamson have been contacted for comment.