A WOMAN who felt isolated when her phone line was down for more than seven weeks said she is relieved it is finally fixed.

Rachel Knapton, who lives in Leys Hill, near to the village of Goodrich, was without broadband for three months and without a phone line since August 8.

It was finally fixed this week by BT, which Mrs Knapton said couldn't have come soon enough.

She said: "It is a great relief. I am on a farm up a track and I have lost my husband. I am by myself and I felt totally isolated."

Mrs Knapton kept being told in the first six weeks that her phone line would be fixed by midnight, but it never happened.

She was forced to buy a pay-as-you-go mobile so she could make calls as the contract minutes on her usual mobile phone had run out.

Mrs Knapton said: "Other people shouldn't have to go through this either. It is not fair."

The service was restored on September 29.

Spokesman for BT, Emma Tennant, said: "Around 16 customers (who could take their service from any communications company) were affected after an underground cable went faulty.

"Openreach, who install and maintain the local network on behalf of all communications providers, apologies for the unforeseeable delays."