O2 mobile users in Lane End and the surrounding area were left fuming after being without signal for three weeks over Christmas and the New Year.

Villagers on the o2 network were unable to use their mobile phones from December 14 to January 5 as the phone company struggled to restore signal.

Rachel Wallace, from Frieth, said residents were furious as many have no other option besides o2 as there is no other phone companies available in some areas.

Mrs Wallace said: "I said to a lot of people that I don't want to say it spoilt my Christmas but it tainted it. Our kids were all out and about.

"We live in Frieth and we rely on mobile phones so the kids can call us to pick them up.

"Around Christmas and New Year every one texts each other and say Happy New Year. On Christmas day you don't want to pick up the phone and intrude on people so you send a text."

She said the whole of Frieth, Fingest and some of Lane End, Bolter End and Cadmore End had no signal.

They rang o2 every day and kept getting different responses, she said. Mrs Wallace, who is a photographer, said all her family are on o2, including her three children, aged between 15-20. She said some people in the area cannot get another network's signal so have to stick to o2 and some residents rely on their phones for business.

She added: "We all rely on mobile technology now. It was very disappointing and debilitating."

Mrs Wallace said the company said they will offer compensation for the time they were out of signal but said the situation was "ludicrous."

An o2 spokesman said: “We experienced a technical fault at one of our network sites that affected service in parts of Buckinghamshire in December.

"Regrettably, we faced challenges in gaining access to the site which meant that service was not restored until January 5th. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience this issue caused.”