A botched attempt to steal cabling left hundreds of homes in Kings Hill without phone and internet connections.

Local reports suggest around 4,000 homes were disconnected when thieves cut through cabling in Tower View in the early hours of yesterday.

BT could only say they received 235 reports of faults at the peak of
the problem, but were unable to confirm the total number of homes
affected.

Engineers were on the scene on Friday and BT said they hoped all affected homes would be reconnected by the end of the day.

The company says it employs many security measures to combat cable
theft.

Anyone with information about the theft attempt should phone police on 101, quoting crime reference YY/18564/12.