A mobile phone company has blamed a hardware fault for the lack of signal which continues to blight customers in north Suffolk.

In the summer, residents of Hoxne and Syleham, near Diss, were without a signal for more than six weeks during a blackout which was put down to the height of trees surrounding the local mast.

Now the same mast has lost signal for a second time leaving residents looking for answers.

John Alborough from Syleham, who runs a community website for vets, said: 'We have now been without signal for about six or eight weeks. After the signal came back last time, within a short number of weeks it went again.

'It's just completely unsatisfactory that we have to do without calls or texts.

'It's affected the whole of the Hoxne area.'

A spokesman for Vodafone said: 'We're sorry some of our customers in the Hoxne area have experienced signal problems recently.

'A local mast developed a hardware fault on November 21 and requires specialist replacement parts which we are trying to access.

'We're working hard to get the site up and running as soon as possible.'

Mr Alborough said: 'I had a text from Vodafone on December 9 to say the network issue was fixed, however we are still without signal. Week after week Vodafone have no sense of urgency - give us a phone signal.'

Earlier in the year Mr Alborough said the issue built on frustrations at the lack of coverage in the area generally and said he had travelled in the jungles of North Vietnam and the Atacama Desert and still got a signal.

The latest development comes as news that a £150m flagship government scheme to end mobile not-spots has failed to help communities in Norfolk.

As part of the nationwide scheme, 15 masts have been put up across the country, with none completed in Norfolk and only two in Suffolk at Rattlesden and Witnesham.

Are you affected by the faulty signal? Email kate.royall@archant.co.uk