Another Haworth mobile phone customer has complained about being left without a service after a Worth Valley telecoms mast was decommissioned.

Earlier this month, the Keighley News reported how Graham Smith, of Sun Street, had to cope with a poor Virgin mobile signal for six months.

Now Chris Whitaker – who lives in Rosslyn Grove, just off Sun Street – has voiced similar frustration with his former mobile provider, Orange.

Mr Whitaker, 26, said the signal for his phone disappeared in mid-May, making it impossible to use unless he actually left Haworth.

He added that despite his many phone calls to the company’s staff explaining the situation, he was told he still needed to pay his monthly mobile bills. He said he was only released from his two-year contract at the end of last month.

“It’s been a massive inconvenience,” he said. “I must have spent about seven hours on my landline phone to Orange trying to get this sorted.

“I know some of my neighbours were on Orange as well, and two of them have their own businesses for which they need to use their mobiles.

“I was only able to use my phone if I went up onto the hills outside Haworth – it was an absolute joke.”

He described Orange’s customer service as poor, noting the business argued it had not breached its contract, even though he was unable to use his mobile in his home village.

“They never gave us any warning the signal was going to be lost,” he said. “They should have evaluated what the knock-on effects would be before they decommissioned the mast – if they’d done that, this could have been avoided.”

Mr Whitaker (pictured) who works for a hire firm in Halifax, said he has now switched to O2 and finally has a decent mobile signal again.

A spokesman for telecommunications company EE, which was founded in 2010 when Orange merged with T-Mobile, responded: “Recent changes made to the network in the Keighley area have created an improved service for many customers, but a few have been adversely affected.

“Where that is the case, we work hard to resolve the matter to the satisfaction of the individual customer.

“In this instance, we offered a range of solutions to restore coverage which the customer refused. We assess each customer’s case on its individual merits, and on this occasion have released the customer from their contract.”