Its famous advertising strap line reminded people it was ‘Good to Talk’ – but a major telecoms firm has been making good things hard to come by.

Around 50 people living in the Lewes Road area of Brighton have had their landline telephones cut off for more than a week due to water damage to a roadside cabinet.

Frustrated residents first complained about the problem to their telephone providers on Thursday, September 12 – but some were still waiting to be reconnected when The Argus went to print yesterday.

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The failure has been particularly disruptive to elderly residents, many of whom don’t have mobiles.

Olive Godfrey, 90, of Upper Lewes Road, lives in a block with 23 other pensioners who had all been cut off.

She described her phone as a “lifeline” and reported she couldn’t receive phone calls.

She said: “I’m 90 years old, I can’t be expected to suddenly learn how to use a mobile.

“My telephone is a lifeline and I can’t get through to anybody.

My carers come round three times a day, but if I need help another time what do I do?”

Other residents have complained about a lack of communication from BT.

Julie Barnes, whose 76- year-old father was cut off last week, has complained to BT every day for the past nine days. She said: “They have been so slowto get themselves into gear.”

“I keep getting fobbed off by one thing or another and my dad is old and a bit kerfuffled.”

“He can’t use a mobile, so if he falls over he’s got no way of ringing for help. He’d be on the floor till one of us called round.”

Aspokesman for BT said its engineers were made aware of the problem on September 13.

He added: “They have been working hard to renew the cable feeding the cabinet and reconnect the faulty lines.

“A temporary repair rectified most of the faults on Friday, but there were still some outstanding and those have now been resolved.

“If anyone else is experiencing issues, please let your telephone provider know by reporting the fault.

“Those affected in the Upper Lewes Road and Bromley Road area should now have had service restored.”