A VICAR is furious with BT after he was charged for using the internet and phone even though he has had no service since December.

Rev Mike Smith, the new parish church vicar in Nailsworth, has had no connection since he moved into his house in December but BT has still charged him.

He told the SNJ: “BT have billed me and have taken money out of my account in January, February, March and April – and they’ve overcharged me twice for something I don’t even have.

“What’s more, they won’t refund the money until the job is complete and the line is active.”

Mike, who lives in Vicarage Gardens, placed an order with the telecoms giant on December 9 for a phone and internet connection.

Five months down the line, he said he has been given 12 dates from BT for when the work needed to connect him would be completed –, but each time nothing happened.

Mike said: “They keep saying that they still have engineering works to be done but I called Gloucestershire Highways and they said there is no work that needs to be done on the road so that wasn’t true.

“They don’t seem to know what engineering works need to be done.”

A man from BT's Openreach visited Mike and confirmed that there was no need to close the road.

“However, BT is still blaming ongoing engineering works,” said Mike.

A spokesman for BT has apologised for the delay in getting a connection for Mike and said: “The cabling work is due to be completed on or around Wednesday, May 13.

“Every effort is being made to connect him.

"He won’t be liable for any services he hasn’t used.”

Mike said that after the SNJ contacted BT, he was called by an executive in the complaints department who “openly admitted that the only reason they were getting in touch and were trying to do something was because the press had been in touch".

“It was only concern about egg on faces rather than customer service,” Mike added.

The Reverend said BT's customer service department was shambolic.

“One of the worrying things is that although there is a customer service desk they don’t have any clout whatsoever," he said.

“You can’t speak to anyone directly or you can only speak to customer services who don’t have a clue about what’s going on.”