VODAFONE has revealed the reason why some of it customers in Dinas Powys have lost their signal – and it’s all down to tall trees.

Some residents of the village spoke about their anger in last week’s Penarth Times (September 20), after they reported going close to three weeks without any signal.

Some said they had been left unable to make calls, send texts or access the internet since September 3.

And after an investigation into the matter by the network team, a spokesperson for Vodafone admitted there is an ongoing problem with a local site in Penarth.

Jane Frapwell said: “Unfortunately, our signal has been disrupted by the growth of trees - we need line of sight to be able to link the mast into the network.

“The trees are on private residential land. We approached the land owner in July as we were aware that the site was having intermittent problems, but the landowner was adamant that he would not give permission to lower the height of the trees. “We are currently exploring other options, but they will be time-consuming,” she added.

“For example, if we had to change the appearance of the structure or build a new mast, we would need planning permission and would also have to consult with the local community who sometimes object to developments of this kind.”

Mrs Frapwell said there were a number of other base stations within the locality providing coverage to the surrounding area, but users who had been left without service for an extended period may be entitled to terminate their contracts early.

“With regard to termination of contract, our terms and conditions make it clear that we do everything we can to provide a service but it cannot be guaranteed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” she added.

“And while some customers will be experiencing problems within the area covered by the mast - this will be a relatively small area, possibly as little as half a mile radius - moving into other areas the service will still be available.

“Call records will indicate whether a customer has been unable to use their phone at all and for how long, and we will consider these on a case by case basis.”