A homeowner claimed he returned home from holiday to find roadworks and a ‘massive’ 24ft pole installed directly outside his 17th century cottage.
Ian Biggs, of St Nicholas-at-Wade, Kent, said he was distraught to discover his picturesque village house – built in 1608 and in a conservation area – blighted by the modern mast.
The pensioner claimed he had already been promised the pole would not be erected outside his property – after finding a sign from Openreach on the bus stop warning locals of the installation and calling the number printed on it.
But upon his return from South Africa on March 1 last year, Mr Biggs was gobsmacked to find his road dug up and ruined, and a mast ‘four times the size’ of him towering over his home.
Speaking to MailOnline, the pensioner said: ‘There was a big hole outside when we got home. I said “oh my god what an earth is going on here?”.
‘Then of course we looked and saw a massive great big pole there.
‘Because none of us came rushing out and said “what on earth’s going on here?”, it was complete by the time we got home.’
He added: ‘Despite promising me they would not put it up outside our cottage, they refused to find somewhere different.’
Mr Biggs, who lives with his wife, claimed he can no longer park his car outside his house because of where the pole is positioned on the edge of the curb.
The telegraph pole and roadworks outside Ian Biggs’ 17th century cottage in Kent when he returned home from holiday
The pensioner said the pole is ‘at least four times’ the size of him and does not go with his cottage
To make matters worse, the homeowner said the mast ‘absolutely reeks’ of creosote – a tar-like substance used to preserve wood.
‘It absolutely stinks of the stuff they put on the wood,’ he said.
‘The distance between the pole and our actual cottage wall is maybe six feet, maybe less. So when you walk out still today it smells, and you daren’t touch it because you’ll get the creosote all over you.’
Mr Biggs feels betrayed by telecoms company Openreach, who he said promised him they would put the mast somewhere else.
After his return home, he claimed he spoke to locals about when the pole was erected and tried to fix the problem.
‘I went and spoke to the chap who runs the Post Office, which is diagonally opposite to our cottage,’ he explained.
‘He said “well one day they just suddenly turned up, started drilling a great big hole and they put the pole up”.
The view of Mr Biggs’ picturesque cottage before the mast was installed
‘Other people said “oh it’s not a big problem”, but I said “but a pole has never, ever been there”.
‘We started looking into it, and they said […] if a pole has never, ever been in this place, then you’ve got a right to appeal against it.’
Mr Biggs added: ‘I was then told, after I managed to get hold of someone and speak to them, they said “we’re very sorry about this but it was the only place that we could put it”. I just don’t feel that that’s true.’
The pensioner, who has lived in the cottage since 2020, said more masts have been installed in his area, with wires stretching across the sky between them.
‘There are other places across the road where they’ve put more poles,’ he said.
‘It’s such a shame because the village is lovely, beautiful, really lovely, but all these poles going up doesn’t do any good.’
More and more broadband street objects are being installed across the country, with many telling MailOnline about their modern mast nightmares.
Some communities have protested against the installation of broadband poles in their area, while others said the masts have ruined their views or even blocked driveways.
Openreach declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.
