Virgin Media UK Contractors in Wrexham Attract More Complaints

The Offa Community Council in Wrexham (Wales) is to lodge a complaint with the main town council after local residents in several areas complained about Virgin Media’s “terrible” street works, which had been left like a “snails tail” and some driveways were inaccessible for over a week.

Sadly no pictures were provided to accompany the story on the Leader, which makes it difficult to judge. However it’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time that Virgin’s civil engineering teams have run into problems around Wrexham. At the end of last year some of their contractors were accused of “sexually inappropriate behaviour” by several women (here) and there have also been other issues with the impact of their works (here).

The current rollout appears to stem from their 2016 announcement, which saw Virgin Media pledge to extend their ultrafast broadband (mostly FTTP in this area) and TV network to cover an additional 24,000 premises around Wrexham as part of their Project Lightning scheme (here).

Meanwhile Wrexham Council said they were aware of the latest complaints and have raised them with the operator, although they have no powers to stop utility works from taking place but they do coordinate and inspect such works. The council can also order that remedial works be carried out if such work is found to be substandard or defective.

A Virgin Media spokesman said:

“Virgin Media is in the process of expanding its network in Wrexham which will bring ultrafast broadband speeds to local residents and businesses.

The condition of roads and pathways have been monitored throughout the build and we will work closely with the council to ensure that any corrective works are completed and meet the required standards. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

As stated earlier, it’s difficult to judge this particular case without more details and some pictures, although it’s worth noting that deploying new infrastructure like this is an expensive business and sadly there are occasions where the disruption can be quite significant.

Such disruption often rubs people up the wrong way, particularly if the prior notification is not received by everybody in good time (nobody likes having their driveway blocked for several days or weeks but sometimes this is unavoidable). We’ve seen plenty of similar gripes being directed toward other operators too, so Virgin is by no means alone.

Other types of street work (e.g. resurfacing roads or installing new gas pipes) can also be just as disruptive. However over the longer term a bit of disruption is usually a small price to pay for access to ultrafast broadband connectivity, which can also help to boost local property prices.