Traders whose phones have been cut off for two weeks because of a fault on BT cable say they have lost about a quarter of their business.

About 30 homes and shops in Trafalgar Street, Brighton, have been left in the lurch since their phones went dead on May 6.

Owners are fed up with the amount of time it is taking BT to fix the problem and say they have lost trade.

The fault has also affected credit card machines which now have to be used manually and money is taking almost two weeks to reach business accounts, affecting cash flow.

BT confirmed about 30 customers have been affected by the fault and is investigating how it happened.

A spokeswoman said the road will have to be dug up to repair the problem, which may have affected nearby roads as well.

Ian Humphries, owner of Cafe Nia, in Trafalgar Street, said: "I would say we have lost about 25 per cent of business over the last two weeks. It's a nightmare.

"We rely a lot on reservations and credit cards. Every morning I have to call BT to divert calls to my mobile, which means people are leaving reservations on the voicemail. It's been so confusing because people have been trying to reserve through the other restaurant in Shoreham.

"We haven't had an apology from BT or any information from them about what will happen. It's absolutely disgraceful. They won't consider compensation until it is fixed."

Osman Mos, owner of clothes and accessories shop Hut 89, in Trafalgar Street, said: "People have put things back and walked out because they don't want to stand there while we try to authorise their card. We have had to put up a notice apologising to people. It's dreadful.

"We are literally dreading weekend trading because we will see so many customers walk out. BT said a week ago they would repair the fault by Wednesday but nothing has happened and we don't know when it will be fixed."

Emma Littlejohn, BT regional spokeswoman, said: "It is difficult to tell at this stage exactly what has caused the break in service but the exact location was pinpointed during a night-time investigation of the fault.

"We do apologise to all our customers who are currently being inconvenienced by this loss of service but assure them we are working as quickly as we can within the constraints we face to repair their service."

Friday, May 20 2005