Thousands without 999 cover as thieves target undersea cable

THIEVES left remote communities without telephone landlines – including 999 emergency calls – by trying to steal a subsea cable they believed to be copper.

• Residents in Skye, Lochalsh and the Western Isles affected by attempted phone cable theft

• Emergency calls, broadband and telephone calls affected

• BT says services to mobile operators may be disrupted

They tried to cash in on the rising price of the metal but mistakenly targeted the fibre-optic cable at low tide in Loch Carron, Wester Ross.

The attempted theft disrupted services to around 10,000 people, and put emergency calls out of service.

More than 2,000 customers across nine communities in Skye, Lochalsh and the Western Isles lost their telephone and broadband connections.

A further 7,000 homes and businesses in the north-west Highlands were left without broadband.

Northern Constabulary, which has launched an investigation into the incident, was forced to put in extra patrols and set up 999 response points so members of the public could contact the police.

Red Cross teams in specially equipped vehicles were also on standby in Kyle of Lochalsh after a request from NHS Highland. The volunteers were drafted in to check on any vulnerable people in the area who could not be contacted by the NHS.

BT branded the incident a “mindless attack” that put isolated members of the public at risk.

A spokesman said: “A fibre-optic subsea cable crossing Loch Carron between the villages of Lochcarron and Strathcarron was maliciously damaged by thieves who mistakenly thought it was a copper cable.

“We were alerted around 4pm on Thursday and nine communities in Skye and Lochalsh and the Western Isles lost their telephone service, 999 and broadband. More than 2,000 customers in Ardvaser, Duntulm, Glendale, Skeabost and Uig, on Skye, Glenshiel and Killilan in Wester Ross, Balallan on Lewis and Scalpay in Harris, were all isolated.

“During the night and early morning, we were able to restore service to all of the exchange areas apart from Skeabost, where we are working to reconnect the remaining 344 customers.

“This incident has also impacted on broadband – around 7,000 customers across the north-west Highlands have lost service.

“The damage to the fibre cable was caused at low tide at Strathcarron and when we were able to locate it, the tide had turned and the damaged area was 20 metres out into the loch.”

The next low tide was not until 2pm yesterday when engineers went in to make repairs with the help of coastguards.

The spokesman added: “We are continuing to explore all our options, including replacing the entire 1,000 metres of cable, and we have alerted divers at our marine unit in the south of England. Metal theft is a growing problem affecting many industry sectors across the UK.”

The current cost of the crime is £770 million a year. The Scottish Government launched a campaign, Cut Out Metal Theft, earlier this week.