Police hunt woman suspected of cutting phone cables in Lincoln

Lincolnshire Police says the suspect is a woman seen in the area with a bicycle

Lincolnshire Police A CCTV still of a woman with dark hair, wearing a grey hooded top and dark trousers, pushing a bicycle with a blue bag on the handlebars — Lincolnshire Police says the suspect is a woman seen in the area with a bicycle

Police are asking for help identifying a woman suspected of repeatedly cutting phone lines in Lincoln.

The Openreach cables have been damaged on 19 occasions since 11 March in the Moorland Avenue and Birchwood Avenue areas, Lincolnshire Police said.

In two cases, vulnerable people were left without connection to their Lifeline alarm system, which summons help if the person has a medical emergency.

The suspect is described as a white woman, approximately 35 years old, with dark hair, seen riding a pink and red mountain bike, and carrying a blue Co-op bag.

Julie Broughton who manages a YMCA charity shop in the area described the internet outages as an “incredible inconvenience”.

“It went down on Tuesday at just after 10:00,” she said.

“We haven’t been able to do any card payments or access the internet at all, which has meant that customers have had to go across the road to get cash out so that they can pay for their purchases.

“We have lost an awful lot of sales and as you can understand, in our position, it’s not an option – we need to be making as much money as we can.”

Julie Broughton said her charity shop had lost money due to the incident

Officers are appealing for information and security camera footage.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said the force was treating the incidents as deliberate criminal damage and was working with Openreach on the investigation.

“The cables are being severed at the base of the telephone poles, which are in residential streets, and which connect to residential premises,” the spokesperson said.

“Each time the cables are cut, scores of homes are being left without access to phone lines and the internet, sometimes for hours, and sometimes for several days while emergency work is undertaken to repair them.

“This can leave people in an incredibly vulnerable position if they rely on a phone line to be able to make or receive calls, or connect to online support services.”

The BBC has contacted Openreach for a response.

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