Residents in Britain’s largest village have spoken of their ‘nightmare’ of being left with poor phone signal – for nearly a month.
Locals in the seaside village of Lancing, West Sussex, say they’ve often been unable to make or receive phone calls since before Christmas.
One local business owner said the faulty phone signal has meant customers have been unable to contact them to place orders and has cost them hundreds in revenue as a result.
Meanwhile, villagers say they were unable to wish friends and family a ‘Happy New Year’ as they ushered in 2025 and questioned the service they are paying for.
Many said that when calls did manage to go through, the person on the other end sounded ‘robotic’ or as though they were underwater.
However, the issues today seem finally to have been resolved.
Retired Joan Sloman has lived in Lancing – which has a population of nearly 28,000 and is frequently touted as the ‘largest village in England’ – for over a quarter of a century.
The 68-year-old says the signal issues have been a ‘nightmare’ for her whilst she’s been doing up a flat in the centre of the village, as she’s been both uncontactable and unable to contact workers employed to work on the property.
Ms Sloman, who is on the O2 mobile network, said: ‘It’s been going on since before Christmas – about three weeks.
‘It depends where you are in the village and what service you’re on.
‘I’m doing up a flat in the village centre and down there I can’t use the internet or phone at all.
‘It’s a nightmare because nobody can get in touch with me when I’m down at the flat and when painters get to the village they can’t use their sat navs to find me.
‘Sometimes a text will go through, but I can’t even use my phone at the back of the house.
‘Can you imagine if this was the centre of Brighton or London? People can’t do their banking, can’t phone their doctors.
‘I was down at the café yesterday and there were half a dozen people in there. Everybody had been affected. It has affected everybody in the village.’
However, the issues today seem finally to have been resolved.
Business owner Yatin Semeja, who runs The Coffee Lounge in Lancing, says the dodgy phone signal has cost his business as much as £600.
The 54-year-old said both his Sky landline and mobile have been unable to make calls since before Christmas – meaning customers have been unable to ring up and place takeaway orders.
Mr Semeja, who has run The Coffee Lounge for over 12 years, said though he was able to make and receive calls, the voice on the other end was unintelligible and sounded like a robot.
‘It has affected our business,’ the father-of-one said. Customers were ringing the landline, but the voice on the other side sounded like a robot.
‘We take lots of takeaway orders, but we couldn’t hear anything so we lost quite a lot of business, to be honest.
‘It has been happening since before Christmas. We have lost at least £500, £600.’
Mr Semeja added that he began using a mobile on the O2 network during the signal faults, which worked, and that his Sky landline and mobile were now working again.
‘So many customers have been complaining about the signal, saying they can’t call anyone,’ he said.
Shellie Smith, a mum-of-two who works in The Coffee Lounge and has lived in Lancing all her life, said she only lost signal on her Vodafone mobile shortly before New Year’s Eve.
‘It has been affecting me since about the 30th,’ the 38-year-old said.
‘It was a problem at New Year… We couldn’t call anyone to say, ‘Happy New Year’.
‘It has gone on for quite a long time, now. Today’s the first time it has corrected itself.
‘You just think it’s a waste of paying for your network charges. Calls would connect but it would sound robotic or like it was underwater.’
O2, Sky and Vodafone have been approached for comment.