Appeal: Openreach cables being cut, Lincoln

We are appealing for witnesses and information into the suspected deliberate cutting of Openreach cables in Lincoln, which is leaving residents without access to phone lines or online access.

In two cases, vulnerable people were left without their Lifeline service connected.

In the past week, we have received information that this has happened on at least 19 occasions in the Moorland Avenue and Birchwood Avenue areas.

The cables are being severed at the base of the telephone poles which are in residential streets, and which connect to residential premises.

Each time the cables are cut, scores of homes are being left without access to phone lines and the internet, sometimes for hours, and sometimes for several days while emergency work is undertaken to repair them.

This can leave people in an incredibly vulnerable position if they rely on a phone line to be able to make or receive calls, or connect to online support services. 

We are treating this as deliberate criminal damage, and we are working with Openreach as we investigate.

Now we need your help.

These incidents have taken place on Sunday 16 March, Tuesday 18 March, Wednesday 19 March and today, Thursday, 20 March.

We have been given a description of a potential suspect we are keen to understand more about. She is described as white, around 35-years-old, with dark hair, and seen riding a pink and red mountain bike carrying a blue Co-op bag.

If you live or have driven in or around Moorland Avenue or Birchwood Avenue on those dates, please check dashcam or doorbell footage to see if you may have captured anyone matching that description, or any other suspicious behaviour or people close to telephone poles.

If you can help, please contact us:

• Email [email protected] and quoting "Openreach cables" in the subject line.
• Call 101 and ask to be put through the Lincoln Neighbourhood Policing Team.