BT telephone customers across Oxfordshire are still waiting to be reconnected after damage caused in last week's storms.

Many lines failed because of lightning strikes on overhead cables and flooding of underground ducts.

BT spokesman Chris Oram said yesterday that there were three to four times the normal number of faults for engineers to deal with, though it was not possible to give precise numbers. He said: "Under normal circumstances, we would try to repair by the next working day, but this is exceptional. We have a lot of outstanding faults. Across the country the lines were hit, with both minor and serious damage."

Diane Gray, of Eynsham Road, Sutton, near Stanton Harcourt, has been told she will have to wait another nine days before her line can be repaired. The BT line to her home was put out of action in the storms on Tuesday last week. She said: "After several phone calls to BT using my mobile, I was very frustrated by the automated service.

"I finally got to speak to a human voice at 5pm the next day, who told me that that an engineer could not come out to check the fault until August 20.

"I'm very disturbed to think what would happen if I was elderly or infirm, and had not had a mobile."

Katherine Green, of Court Gardens, Witney, said her niece and sister-in-law, who both live in Hailey, would have to wait even longer, with BT saying repairs would take until Monday, August 23. They were also cut off on August 3.

Mr Oram said customers could claim compensation, including businesses which could prove they had suffered financial loss.