A couple's Eurovision party plans were ruined when contractors started digging up their road "without warning".
Julie and Phil Bainton had organised the party, complete with a barbecue in their garden, to celebrate Eurovision arriving in Liverpool. However, on Thursday morning, May 11, they noticed contractors marking yellow lines outside their property.
At 8am the following morning, the couple spotted vans and a digger rounding the corner into their Hull cul-de-sac and the road was soon being dug up, Hull Live reports.
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Julie, 58, said that nobody on the cul-de-sac had been consulted about the plans and the disruption ruined their Eurovision celebrations.
She said: "I was at work when they started digging and came back to a complete mess. I asked the contractors why we hadn't been advised of the roadworks and the supervisor said we should have had a letter.
"I wouldn't have bothered organising it and would have arranged a barbecue for a different weekend, I had a lot of family coming over and I'd already prepared the food.
"We were planning to sit outside because I have a lovely new garden but just listen to that noise. The drilling had been going on since 8am and it was far too noisy to have guests over."
Residents rushed out of their homes on the The Groves to ask what they should do about their cars, as nobody had posted a letter about the works or knocked on the door, and were told contractors were installing cables on behalf of Hull Fibre and would be there all weekend.
Julie added: "I asked all of my neighbours and not one of them had received one either. I'm happy with my internet, and as far as I know, the other residents in the street don't want to swap either."
Phil, 60, added: "It would have taken 20 minutes on Thursday morning to knock on our doors to let us know what would be happening and it would have gone a long way. Now we're struggling to get off the drive because the roadworks are being done right outside of our property."
Other neighbours echoed the same viewpoints. They agreed the contractors from MS3 were being as accommodating as possible, but the lack of communication left them infuriated.
One woman said: "I've never even heard of Hull Fibre and haven't had a letter or note. It's been a bit of an inconvenience and it would have been nice to know that I needed to move my car."
A man next door added: "I thought it was the council here to do the drains until they dug the road up. It was absolute chaos on Friday night and I'm a little concerned at how they will put the block paving back."
Hull Fibre said it would be down to the contractors, MS3 Network, to advise people living in The Groves about the disruption.
Under national law, telecoms operators are not obliged to engage directly with residents about installing such infrastructure. Councils also have no power in authorising or blocking these works.
Despite residents on The Groves denying they had notification, contractor MS3 said it has a team dedicated to notifying neighbours. Guy Miller, CEO of MS3 Network said: "MS3 apologises for the disruption caused by the street works for the residents of The Groves earlier this month.
"We always try to minimise the disruption that street works bring to residents, although we do hope residents appreciate that it cannot be completely avoided all the time. Our community engagement team delivers letters and other informational resources to properties that will be affected by the street works at three months and one month prior to work beginning, and street signage and further leaflets the week that work begins at the location.
"We also provide contact information for residents to discuss the street works further with a member of the team at MS3 if they have any concerns.
"However, it’s also important to note that the short-term disruption that street works cause is an essential part of our work to bring faster speeds, greater reliability and a greater choice of broadband provider to residents in Hull. Laying full fibre cables is essential to rolling out the network, and the work MS3 is doing is saving Hull residents an average of £180 a year on their broadband."
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