CONCERN has been raised about the quality of mobile signal in rural parts of West Oxfordshire.

The problem came to a head when two villagers in South Leigh were unable to call for help when a deer was stuck in a fence and pulling off its leg.

Other nuisances include being cut off when talking to police about a family problem and another villager was cut off when talking to a hospital about a blood issue.

The problem has led residents to contact the four operators, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.

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South Leigh resident, and tribunal judge, Dick Pears, 68, said: “There was recently a survey in South Leigh about mobile signals in the village, it was sent round via email and it seems that the extreme north and south houses get a signal but not much inbetween.

“The vast majority of replies show deep dissatisfaction with the quality of the signal and customer service.

“You either get no signal at all so can’t use your phone or you get one bar which disappears.

“I’ve spoken to councillors and it’s a problem across West Oxfordshire too, not just here.”

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Oxfordshire county councillor Charles Mathew, whose division is Eynsham, said: “There are within my division quite a few problems, within the same village there’ll be places with no coverage, very little coverage or good coverage.

“We know how important it is to have the ability to have mobile coverage, it almost comes into the category of internet.”

Mr Pears and Mr Mathew said the problem is prevalent in Aston, Ducklington, Northmoor, Standlake and Stanton Harcourt.

A spokesperson for Three said: “We have been working with South Leigh Parish Council over recent weeks to understand coverage in the locality.

“Our customers are of paramount importance to Three and the continuous investment in our network to improve coverage supports this goal.

“This includes the Shared Rural Network which will bring mobile coverage to more places in the UK and give people in rural areas a similar choice as those living in towns and cities.”

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An EE spokesperson added: “We’re working closely with local residents and councillors in West Oxfordshire to help enhance their mobile experience.

“We have visited the area to run additional signal checks and will use this information to continue to optimise the network and keep local residents and businesses connected.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for O2 said: “O2’s coverage checker for 2G, 3G and 4G service in these postcodes is showing as good, however we value our customers’ feedback so will send a radio engineer and optimiser to assess the performance of the masts.

“This is all part of the £2 million a day O2 invest in our network for our customers.”