Walkhampton village has been cut off without communications for a week with no end in sight.

A single Openreach cabinet serves the entire village on the western side of Dartmoor, and it was involved in a collision with a car on Thursday, May 29.

The glancing blow brought the communications in the village to a standstill and despite repairs to mend the cabinet by Openreach on June 3, power has not been restored to the cabinet which was running for a short time on battery.

Now the village has been without any communications for more than a week

Local parish councillor Gary Clifford is not amused and says that local businesses are struggling. He said: “The village has only very patchy cellular coverage so without telephone and internet it pretty much leaves the whole village cut off from the rest of the world.

The Walkhampton Openreach cabinet has been repaired but not had power restored leaving the village without telecoms and internet connectivity.
The Walkhampton Openreach cabinet has been repaired but not had power restored leaving the village without telecoms and internet connectivity. ( )

“In 2025 it is difficult to understand why the Openreach communications cabinet is a single point of failure in the village, especially as cellular coverage is so poor.

“It leaves vulnerable people in the village without much needed communications.”

The rumour in the village is that power will not be restored for a few days more and meanwhile, businesses such as the local Walkhampton Inn are missing out on bookings by phone and having to use mobile phone signal to take electronic payment in the beer garden.

Cllr Clifford added: “I tried contacting Openreach yesterday, they are unapproachable. One agent said that they don't know anything about it, even though they have been working on it. They just keep saying that I need to contact my Service Provider.

“In the end, I emailed their CEO, surprise, surprise, I haven't heard back.”

An Openreach spokesperson said: “Our network was damaged when a car collided with our green cabinet in Walkhampton last week, disrupting broadband and landline services for some customers in the area.

“We have provided temporary service to all affected customers who should all now have connectivity and we’re working with partners to restore power to the cabinet as quickly as possible. If any customers are experiencing issues with their services, they should get in touch with their service provider.

“We share the frustration over the damage and understand its impact, so we appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as we work on repairs.”