An Eastleigh resident has spoken out against utility company Toob after a number of telegraph poles appeared down her road.

Emergency call handler, Michelle Mathers, 39, lives in Oxburgh Close in Eastleigh and was shocked when construction work started without any warning to residents.

After seeing Toob workers beginning construction, she got in touch with the utility company to find out what was going on.

She continued: “I gave Toob a call to find out if my home was going to have a telegraph pole erected after a neighbour came home to find one outside his property with no warning.

“I was told that neither a permit nor application had yet been submitted so they were unable to tell me - I was told to keep an eye on the one.network website.

“I went on to one.network to find out that a pole was going to be erected right outside my house.

“The way the residents of Oxburgh Close have been treated by Toob has really upset me – they have changed the features of the road – right outside of people’s homes without sufficient warning.

“No one wants to look at a large brown post right outside their home.”

Michelle said Toob should review its resident communication strategy to make sure the impact of disruption is limited, and residents are fully aware of what to expect.

She added: “The way Toob has done this has not been very respectful. They should have had the decency to go to residents directly.”

In response to this, a spokesperson from Toob said: “We carefully plan our network to ensure minimal disruption to our communities, and wherever possible, use existing networks and ducts; however, sometimes the most viable solution is to install a telegraph pole.

“Whenever this course of action is taken, we engage with residents ahead of time to gauge the receptivity of the local community.

“We carefully consider this feedback, altering plans whenever possible, before notifying the council and applying for permits.

“Toob are a local company, serving local communities, and we do not wish to alienate these communities. This is why we notify affected households and encourage feedback.

“We recently engaged with residents in Eastleigh, which included letters to affected homes, and after receiving a largely positive response, decided to proceed. We recently started work in the area, and it has been brought to our attention that an affected resident has some negative feedback.

“Once we were alerted to this, we stopped deployment immediately and are in the process of contacting residents to reassess our progress. We hope to find a swift and amicable resolution for all parties involved.”