Homeowners across the UK have revealed their fury after telecoms workers erected ‘hideous’ telegraph poles right outside their windows.
One man from Hull told he was so frustrated by the pole installed outside his house that he bought an axe and has been tempted to chop it down.
Several people claimed they became ‘ill’ from stress by obsessively looking out their windows and checking doorbell cameras in a bid to stop workers erecting the giant masts.
The property owners are the latest in a string of people to complain about the broadband poles appearing outside their houses, with many ruining views and even blocking driveways.
Steve Wardell, from Sutton, Hull, said the mast put up outside his home is ‘all you see’ when you look out the window, claiming he tried everything to stop it going up.
‘When you’re sat in the back of the house, that’s all you see. In your mind, your eyes focus on it as well. It’s driving me nuts,’ he told .
‘I’m checking my cameras like five, six, seven times a day. Mental stress. I’ve got Type 1 diabetes as well and I’ve got that much to worry about with that, but this is overloading my head. But they don’t care.’
A man from Hull said this pole was installed outside his house and is ‘all you see’ when you look out the window
Steve Wardell, from Sutton, Hull, said he has been checking his cameras five to seven times a day to check no more poles are being installed outside his property
Photos show the scene outside Mr Wardell’s window before and after the pole was installed
A worker is seen wiring up the telegraph pole outside Mr Wardell’s house in Sutton
Mr Wardell, 58, said a company called Connexin installed the pole outside his window around a year ago after putting a sign up giving him 28 days notice to appeal.
The father added that more poles are cropping up in his area, leaving him worried that another mast will soon appear outside his property.
‘It’s stressing me out. What I’m doing is when I’m at work I’m checking my cameras to make sure they haven’t put the signs up,’ he said.
‘I’ve got my own business so I’m quite under pressure at work, and all I’m doing is worrying about if they’ve got them poles. If I have to take time off, I’ll take time off to put my car and my van in the way. Which is losing me money, but it’s a must, it must be done.
‘They put a sign on the lamppost outside my house. It said we’re going to give you 28 days notice, and then obviously we’re all aware.’
He added: ‘When they put the barriers round, the orange barriers, they put a spray mark on it, on the floor where it was going to go, and then they put the barriers round. Well we picked all the barriers up and lobbed them back onto the main road. All my neighbours were just going round and taking their barriers down and throwing them onto the field.’
Mr Wardell has been worried that the poles appearing outside his house and in his area will decrease the value of his property.
‘When they put these poles outside my house, I rang the estate agents – this was a year ago now – […] and I said because of these poles will this devalue my house, which I believe it will. They said it might not devalue it, but your house could be to a limited audience. Because I wouldn’t buy a house with a pole outside the house,’ he said.
A homeowner from Lancashire told the pole installed outside their house is visible from ‘every window’ from the front of the property
The homeowner said they were away on holiday when their daughter called to say a pole was being erected outside the house
He added: ‘I’ve been here 27 years, and I would move from this house because of the poles. I don’t know what you’d do, I just don’t know.’
Mr Wardell said he even bought an axe off Amazon in a fit of rage and was tempted to chop the pole down.
‘I’ve bought an axe off Amazon, it’s got to come down,’ he laughed. ‘I’ve never felled a tree in my life but it’s drove me nuts, and my neighbours.’
Another homeowner from Littleborough said a pole was erected outside her window following a long dispute with broadband company IX Wireless about where the pole was going to be installed.
Vivienne Calderbank, 66, said she even became ‘ill’ from the stress of worrying about where the pole was going to be erected.
‘7 o’clock one morning they appeared, put traffic lights outside so I went out again to speak to them and then I said I need it as close to the boundary as possible, I don’t want it in front of a window,’ she said.
‘And then they said oh well we can’t do it now, we’ll have to come back again. That’s how it’s been going on.
‘We ended up with a metal one which is a much thinner pole – […] I’d prefer it not to be there but we have no choice.’
She added: ‘There’s no point [complaining] because it was making me feel ill. I was sick of mithering with it. I’ve been in touch with the council, I’ve been in touch with the local councillor, and waiting for them to come and watching all the time.’
Ms Calderbank said other poles have also been installed in her area.
‘They’re just putting them up outside people’s houses, and people they don’t know until they come home from work and they’ve got a big pole outside their house.
‘Now it’s like to the right hand side of my house – it’s between mine and next door’s on the boundary. It’s the best I could have hoped for.
‘In this area it’s all IX Wireless. The confusing thing is, this is all supposed to be so we all get better broadband, but nothing’s wrong with our broadband – it’s quite sufficient.’
Vivienne Calderbank, from Littleborough, told a metal telegraph pole was put up outside her window
Ms Calderbank said this metal antennae pole was also put up nearby
She added: ‘I think there’re too many and I think when it’s right outside somebody’s window, I think it’s absolutely terrible how they can get away with it. It’s not fair. Some properties, they’ve actually put it in front of our drive. It’s just crazy.
‘It’s the same with everybody, they don’t want something like that stuck right outside their house. There’re telegraph poles already, you know on all the streets, and they just come.’
Another homeowner from Lancashire, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the pole put up outside their house around a year ago is visible from ‘every window’ from the front of the property.
‘We’re not a bit happy about it – not one bit happy about it. From every window at the front of our house the pole is there. It’s right in the middle – it’s been put right up against the wall,’ they said.
The homeowner claimed they were on holiday when their daughter, who was checking up on the house, called to say a telegraph pole was being erected outside the property.
‘What happened was we were away on holiday, and our daughter checks on our house. So she came to check on our house and when she came, there were cranes and all sorts here outside our house. They dug up all the pavement,’ they said.
‘So she was the first to see it, so she phoned us to say Mum I don’t know what’s going on. She said they’re putting a telegraph pole outside the house.’
They added: ‘When you’re sitting you’re just looking at the pole. The other thing is the birds like to stay on it now, so the area is full of bird dirt.’
The homeowner said they complained and contacted the council but the pole has remained at the house.
‘The only way it could be moved was at our cost. We had the chairman of Lancashire County Council down to look at it and he said it should be moved. But it’s nothing to do with the council at all. They didn’t even know that the poles were going to be put up,’ they said.
‘My husband and I have had all sorts of health issues, so to be fair it got put on the bottom of the list even though it was at the top when it first got put up. We’ve just had to live with it basically.
‘We didn’t even know what the poles were for, why they were being put up. Because they’re not down any other road in our village. Why it was put up here I really don’t know.’
A spokesperson for IX Wireless said: ‘The placement of the poles are within permitted development rules which allow telecom providers throughout the UK to undertake infrastructure work, and local councils are always aware of any work being commenced.
‘The latest investment in digital infrastructure will provide the communities in Rochdale with much needed gigabit-capable broadband services at a fraction of the cost of other broadband providers.
‘We understand that while many people have welcomed investment in the roll-out of digital infrastructure, some people are unhappy with the installation of new poles.
‘We believe the only way to level-up the region and move towards a digitally inclusive environment is to invest in a new innovative network which will give people the same opportunities as those across the country otherwise we are at risk of being left behind.
‘New infrastructure enables us to provide communities across the North West with more choice, better service and cheaper broadband.’
An Openreach spokesperson said: ‘This new pole is part of our new full fibre network. Wherever possible, our engineers use existing infrastructure when building our network, and only install new apparatus when there is no alternative. We’re very aware of the visual impact our equipment can have and do our best to balance aesthetics, cost effectiveness, engineering and safety – it’s not always easy.
‘When we received an objection to where it was sited, local surveyors did spend considerable time trying to find a different location, and explored moving it across the street. However, this wasn’t possible from an engineering perspective, so we have no alternative to leaving it where it is.’
has been unable to contact Connexin for comment.