Hundreds of homes and businesses in Beaminster, Dorset, remain without broadband after a car crashed into a telegraph pole and caught fire, severely damaging local network infrastructure.
The incident, which happened late on Sunday night (12 Oct 25) on White Sheet Hill, left around 1,000 Openreach customers without service. The outage has affected homes, shops, a GP surgery and Beaminster School.
Dorset Police said they are still trying to trace the driver of the vehicle. The road between Beaminster and the A356 was closed following the blaze, and the burnt-out car was removed on Tuesday to allow engineers to begin repairs.
An Openreach spokesperson said:
“We’re fully assessing the impact and how much damage has been caused. Once we have that information, we’ll be able to give a clearer indication of how long it will take before services are restored.
“Installing a new pole and rebuilding the damaged fibre network is a complex task, but we understand how disruptive it is for local residents to be without broadband. Our engineers are working as quickly and safely as possible to get things back to normal.”
Openreach engineers remain on site assessing the extent of the damage and planning the rebuild of the affected fibre lines. Some residents had initially been told connections could be restored by Thursday, but Openreach has not confirmed a timeframe.
Beaminster School said in a statement that it remains without internet and asked parents to contact the school by phone for all student absences. Tunnel Surgery has also been affected and is asking patients to use e-consult or call its sister practice in Bridport for urgent appointments.
Beaminster Library has stepped in to help, offering free public wi-fi during opening hours – including access from outside the building for anyone in need of a connection.
