Phone mast engineers are unable to carry out repairs due to the discovery of asbestos at one of its sites, EE has told its customers.

The mobile network operator had originally messaged customers in the Greenhithe area on Saturday to say its workers had been the target of air rifle shots.

In the communication it added the affected mast was currently out of bounds, pending a police investigation, and all improvement works would be shelved until resolved.

Now the telecoms provider has sent out an update to affected residents to say the issue was actually related to asbestos.

In a text message sent to customers this afternoon it said: "Correction from our previous update, we've got to resolve some health and safety issues due to asbestos on our site. before it's safe for the engineers.

"Once we've got the all clear, engineers can get to work. We will next update you on June 9."

Residents in Greenhithe and the Worcester Park estate have taken to Facebook to vent their frustration at the patchy network coverage which has blighted them in recent months.

One disgruntled EE customer told KentOnline: "We just want our phones to work after six months of poor service.

"EE has been very poor in many parts of Greenhithe since Christmas.

"I could show you pages and pages of excuses from EE why its down... but this isn't helping people during lockdown."

Another Greenhithe resident said: "It’s still not good, EE's answer is to to use WiFi calling which is fine if you're indoors but no good when you want to make calls outside of your home."

Last month, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint from a rival network which banned several of EE's adverts.

It came after it was accused of misleading consumers with claims its 5G service were "unbeatable" and "unrivalled".

On Saturday an EE spokesman said: “We want to apologise to customers in the Greenhithe area who may be experiencing intermittent service.

"We’re taking the required precautions to ensure our engineers can safely access the site to carry out the work needed to restore full service.”

EE has been contacted for further comment.

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