HUNDREDS of families have been left without broadband for almost a week after a car crashed into and destroyed a telecommunications box in Hockley.

On December 28, at around 8am, a blue Ford Fiesta struck a road sign and a BT telecommunications box in Buckingham Road.

As a result, 500 customers have been left without broadband service, with the problem not due to be fixed until Thursday “at the earliest”.

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Residents have been left frustrated by the situation as they claim, “nobody has been working to fix it”.

Tricia Wiseman, a 48-year-old who lives in a nearby street to where the incident occurred, said: “We have landline, that has not been affected at all.

“But we are still without internet, and I have been having to use my hotspot to work.

“It is challenging as both my daughter and I work from home, so need strong wi-fi.

“There is some frustration especially when there appears to be nobody there working to fix it.

“I have since received a mini hub from BT, which I have connected, but it is struggling badly, very temperamental, and disconnected every few minutes.

“Fingers crossed they can fix it soon.”

Another resident in the area, Scott Barwick, 55, added: “A car has gone through the box and destroyed most of it.

“We have no internet, luckily my son is off this week, but he works from home so he will soon need the internet to work.

“It is all very frustrating.”

Residents in the area reported the exchange box was “completely demolished” by the crash.

A spokesman for Openreach said this is impacting around 500 customers, but the earliest date available for repairs is January 5.

They said: “A cabinet on Buckingham Road was damaged in a road traffic accident on December 28, affecting broadband service to around 500 customers. 

“We attended and made the area safe, but repairs of this nature are complex.

“The repairs will be carried out on January 5 – the earliest available date.

“We understand how frustrating this must be for anyone is affected. We encourage anyone experiencing any disruption with their phone or broadband service to report it to their service provider who will then inform us.”

Call Essex Police on 101 quoting incident number 0275 of 28/12.