A pensioner has been left fearing for her health after her views were blighted by a towering 32-foot internet mast.
Ms Raye, had been enjoying her home in Eastleigh, Hampshire, for well over three decades before her dreams of residential bliss were dashed.
On a September morning last year, she was rudely awoken by the sound of drilling outside her home, but what waited outside was worse – a towering mast.
She looked out of her window to find the pole had been installed by Toob Full-Fibre Broadband with no prior warning, according to the 67-year-old.
And not only has it ruined the views from her home, an unidentified ‘pungent’ odour emanating out of the structure has left her with ‘sleepless’ nights and health worries.
Previously, Ms Raye had spent many years in the Caribbean, where ferocious storms would often see homes crushed or swept away.
And with Storm Darragh and Eowyn having battered Britain, the pensioner has been left worried about the locality of the lofty pole.
‘Basically main problem of that pole being there because is do find it quite unnerving,’ Ms Raye told The Daily Mail.
Ms Raye , had been enjoying her home in Eastleigh, Hampshire, for well over three decades before her dreams of residential bliss were dashed
On a September morning last year, she was rudely awoken by the sound of drilling outside her home, but what waited outside was worse – a towering mast
‘I tried contacting Toob, I said not far from where this pole has been installed, you all have installed cables underground.’
‘If that pole came down in my direction, it’s absolutely going to hit the property, and I’m just living in fear when I should be actually able to relax in my own environment.’
She added: ‘I lived abroad in the Caribbean. I experienced one of the hurricanes out there, which was pretty intense and we had an electric pole fell.
‘It damaged the gates of the property, but it fell across into our property and it was really scary.’
She explained that when she initially purchased the property around 30 years ago, it was bought with ‘the intent’ she would ‘be able to relax [there].’
‘If I had to look for a property now and I saw this telegraph pole where it is, I would immediately cancel,’ she said.
‘Having been through the experience I did [in the Caribbean], the main problem of that pole being there, I do find it quite unnerving.’
But being an eyesore aren’t the only issues that have arisen with a mast, Ms Raye is also able to smell a liquid spilling from the structure 15 metres away in her garden.
‘I’m very sensitive for headaches and migraines,’ she said. ‘I was having like sleepless nights and waking up and the first thought was, it was just disturbing me constantly.
‘The doctor kindly wrote the letter which I supplied it to Toob very fast about my concerns but heard absolutely nothing.’
She explained the odour had become even worse in recent months due to recent heatwaves, adding: ‘It’s really pungent and smelly and it’s really strong.’
When the 67-year-old complained of the ‘fuel-like’ smell to the internet provider, a contractor was sent out to mitigate the issue.
Since, there has been a hessian type fabric wrapped around the pole, but she claims it hasn’t helped with the smell and makes the street look ‘ugly’.
‘I said this isn’t satisfactory, apart from the fact that it looks terribly ugly,’ she added.
‘I’d like to know what this chemical is that’s coming out because it’s very much a fuely type thing.’
The elderly woman also expressed concerns over the birds which previously nested in the trees, which now have cables running through them.
‘I have 9 bird boxes up in my trees, and every year I have had birds nesting,’ she said. ‘This is the first year I have not had one single bird nesting in any of the boxes.’
She added: ‘The fact that they did underground cables just along the road further up from where my property is.
‘Why couldn’t they have just extended that rather than put this pole in, which is also what they did, when they connected the cables.’
A spokesperson from toob said: ‘We received overwhelming support for our Chandler’s Ford and Eastleigh network build, and invested over £7million in the area while covering more than 17,000 premises.
‘In Park Road, the telegraph poles are currently serving households with our affordable, ultrafast full-fibre broadband, and our customers there are very happy with their service.
A sign, which has largely been damaged by liquid emanating from the pole. The paper had previously fallen off the mast
‘We carefully plan our network to ensure minimal disruption and wherever possible we use existing networks and ducts. However, sometimes new telegraph poles will need to be installed but we remain mindful of impact to individuals. We use telegraph poles that comply with industry standards, using typical pole preservation methods. There are currently around four million telegraph poles across the UK that use the same methods.
‘We engage with residents about poles before they are implemented and take feedback on board. If there is a consensus from the community that new poles are not an acceptable solution, then we will put the network deployment on hold for that area. However, where there is general acceptance and support for the deployment, we will notify the council and proceed with the build.
‘In Park Road, we own one pole, with our network utilising other existing poles along the street to serve homes. Ms Ray initially raised a concern over our pole situated on Park Road and we entered dialogue.
‘Our last communication regarding the location of the pole was on 23/10/2024 and we addressed her concerns. We received further communication from Ms Ray regarding the safety of the pole on 26/06/2025, we again acted on her concerns and confirmed the pole as safe following thorough inspection.
‘We have received no further communication from Ms Ray and urge her to contact us directly if she would like to discuss anything further.
‘We are a local company, with a focus on connecting local communities. This is why we work with residents and encourage feedback directly to us, sympathetically engaging with them throughout the whole process and adjusting plans where it is feasible to do so.’
