Bilsdale mast fire: Hundreds of households still affected by signal loss

Hundreds of people are still without TV and radio a year after a fire destroyed a transmitter.

The Bilsdale mast caught fire on 10 August 2021, affecting 600,000 homes across the North of England.

Mast operator Arqiva said 99.9% of customers had been reconnected and promised urgent home visits to the 300 to 500 properties still affected.

However, households in Great Ayton and Redcar have told BBC Radio Tees whole communities still have no Freeview TV.

Mick McDine from Great Ayton said: "Many of us have been terribly unlucky and had no TV for virtually a year .

"A lot of my neighbours are pensioners and why should we pay for a service we aren't getting during a cost of living squeeze?"

He also said getting BBC Radio Tees on 95FM was "hit and miss" and very frustrating.

Sarah from Redcar said her service was intermittent, adding: "The time it really annoys me is when we're watching something live, like the women's football final, and we appear to be a few moments behind everyone.

"I had to stop looking at social media until the final whistle."

The fire-hit mast was demolished and a temporary transmitter was put up in September 2021, followed by a "more resilient" but still temporary structure in February 2022.

Since the fire the company said it had inspected 48 transmitter sites across the UK and no faults or concerns had been found.

Arqiva said the cause of the blaze had been attributed to water getting into "an electrical component".

Adrian Twyning, chief of operations for Arqiva, apologised to those still affected.

He said that all issues should be fixed by spring 2023 when a 984ft-high (300m) new, permanent mast will be up and running.

He said: "It's a complex build but the good news is that we will have the permanent mast in place within a year when it should have taken two years."

He said that over the last year, more than 7,000 homes had been visited by engineers and urged those still losing signal to call 0800 1214828.

People can still listen live to BBC Radio Tees on BBC Sounds and watch TV programmes on the BBC iPlayer.

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