Apology given after phone line swaps cause confusion near Jedburgh

BT's telephone exchange at Camptown, Jedburgh.

Edgerston residents resorted to calling their own landlines in a bid to find out who was receiving their phone calls after a mix-up by telecommunications engineers last week.

Around a dozen rural homes just south of Jedburgh were affected after a wiring error meant calls went astray for up to 72 hours for some homeowners.

Bemused residents were left calling around their neighbours in a bid to find out who was receiving calls for whom.

An Openreach spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry for the human error that saw a small number of wires crossed during broadband upgrade work locally.

“Contractors were connecting dozens of copper lines to a new fibre street cabinet. Unfortunately, some of the cables were not paired correctly, resulting in people ending up with the wrong numbers.

“Engineers have been working to put things right, but any outstanding issues should be reported to service providers to be fixed.”