Where is Okehampton? Or the villages of South Zeal, Belstone, Throwleigh? Ask British Telecom and they?ll tell you they are all in North Devon. This week, 2007/8 telephone directories for North Devon fell through the letter boxes of many West Devon homes, despite past complaints from residents of the area, who have asked to be included in ? and to receive ? Exeter?s telephone directory. At present, residents of the Okehampton area who need to find telephone numbers in Exeter have to pay for directory enquiry services, or fork out £10 for an Exeter directory. The Times? village correspondent for South Zeal, Ursula Radford, said: ?This leaves telephone users and the area?s population divorced from Exeter, their main business and social centre?. She added that because of BT?s current classification of the area, West Devon residents calling for emergency services are also often put through to Barnstaple instead of Exeter. ?I spent ages explaining to an operator that Barnstaple was not my nearest hospital - but he didn?t seem to believe me,? she said. BT spokesperson Jason Mann defended the current positioning of Okehampton in North Devon by stating that the classification is one that has stood for many years. He said: ?We try to set phonebook boundaries where they are of most use to our customers. ?At present, we believe that Okehampton is best placed in the North Devon book and we have no plans to change the situation.? But he added that BT does welcome comments from its customers, and that any residents of Okehampton and its environs who feel that they should be repositioned within the Exeter catchment area should contact the company with their views. BT can be contacted by telephoning 0800 833 400, or by writing to Mrs Jillian G Lewis, Customer Service Director, BT plc, Correspondence Centre, Durham, DH98 1BT Some BT customers contacting the company to air their grievances have been offered free copies of the Exeter directory.
