DEFIANT Wollaston residents have won a battle over proposed new telegraph poles in their street.

More than fifty residents living on Ridgewood Avenue, Wollaston, signed a petition objecting to the installation of three new telegraph poles by brsk.

Now the broadband network provider has decided not to install the poles with overhead cables on the street after listening to their concerns.

On Sunday August 27, residents gathered outside their houses with local councillors Andrew Tromans and Cat Eccles, in a show of defiance against the proposal.

One of the residents said: “We are a close-knit community who came together to meet brsk and listen to their arguments.

"We have researched and considered them and concluded there was absolutely no support for the installation of poles in our street."

A spokesperson for brsk said: "Due to the community feedback, we have decided to not go ahead with the upgrade of the fibre network in the area.

"A communication via letter will be dropped to all residents in this regard first thing tomorrow morning.

"As much as we believe in building for the future, we do take the concerns of residents seriously, hence our decision to remove the area from our plans."

Wollaston and Stourbridge Town Cllrs, Cat Eccles and Andrew Tromans, who supported local residents in their opposition to the proposed telegraph poles, welcomed the decision.

They said: "Residents can be proud of the way that they came together to oppose an unwanted change to their area.

"It is not acceptable to try to alter the street scene so drastically without consulting the people who live there, especially when most are content with their existing broadband speeds and service.

"We hope brsk will learn from this episode and change their approach in the future."

As part of the Government’s digital rollout to provide every home with full fibre broadband, the entire network infrastructure is being upgraded over the next few years.

BT Openreach manage the network nationally, but the government has given 3rd party companies the green light to help speed up the rollout.

Brsk are using telegraph poles with new cabling, poles and boxes.

Cllr Tromans said “Brsk are currently rolling out their service across Stourbridge and Ridgewood Avenue isn’t the only street where there are concerns - there are also concerns in Twickenham Court, Fairfield Rise and The Dell."

Cllr Eccles has called on the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for further legislation on the national rollout to ensure companies are meeting their legal duties to inform residents and allow for feedback, and encourage the use of the existing underground networks.