Residents and businesses in Newcastle's Brunton Park area have been without reliable internet access for five days following a lightning strike during a storm on Friday. The strike caused a power surge that damaged an Openreach green cabinet, affecting approximately 130 customers.
Businesses Hit Hard by Internet Outage
Matthew Kershaw, owner of The Brunton Deli for 17 years, reported missing around 25 calls per day and losing sales. "I'm definitely losing sales. I'm probably missing about 25 calls a day. A lot of them are orders," he said. His internet-based phone line and card machine have been intermittent, causing customer frustration and lost business from delivery platforms like Just Eat and Uber Eats, with Uber Eats orders dropping to just 10-20% of normal levels.
Preethi Thangavel, manager of the Premier Store, estimated losing £2,000 over five days. "We have lost a lot of sales. Over the last five days we have lost £2,000. It's been terrible," she said. The outage has prevented her from processing card payments, running the lottery, or sending parcels, all of which require internet access. She also noted her children missed three online classes due to the lack of home internet.
Community Impact and Openreach Response
Sarah Bunn, owner of Bunns coffee shop, said her business has been quieter as customers cannot use the wifi. She was able to switch her card machine to 4G, but the signal is weak. "The other businesses have definitely been struggling," she added. A 60-year-old resident who wished to remain anonymous said he lost all broadband and could not use WhatsApp, email, or Google. His landline, which operates through wifi, also failed.
An Openreach spokesperson said: "The lightning from last week's storms in Brunton Park damaged one of our green cabinets, impacting around 130 customers. We finished repair work today and thank everyone for their patience. If anyone has any ongoing issues, it's important they report them to their provider."
