Update on Bilsdale mast replacement to restore TV signal

The temporary structure should return Freeview TV services to more than 90 per cent of households across the area which were affected by a fire to the original Bilsdale mast last month.

Read more: Work on the temporary mast begins

It is due to be completed on October 5 - but it won't be high enough to restore services to every home still experiencing loss of some TV services.

Arqiva, the company responsible for the mast, says it is working on 'engineering solutions' to restore signal to those who won't be served by the temporary mast.

In an update on work currenty being carried out at the site, Keith Frost, director of engineering at Arqiva, said: "The first was around deploying temporary structures and also making use of existing structures by deploying transmission equipment to get signals to those areas affected.

"We also had to restore the signal to the relays which were reliant on the Bilsdale mast for their programme feeds.

"We did this by identifying key areas where we could deploy our disaster recovery pump-up mast, for example at Eston Nab and Arncliffe, but also where we could reuse existing structures that would give us more height.

"An example of this is what we have done at Sutton Bank.

"The aim of these deployments is to provide services to as many people as quickly as possible."

Mr Frost explained some of the challenges the company is facing in building the new structure.

He said: “We need to improve the height and the power of the signals that we provide and the best place to do this is close to the existing mast at Bilsdale.

"There have been particular challenges with getting onto the site at Bilsdale due to the area being designated as a site of Special Scientific Interest.

"In order to protect the environment Arqiva have had to pull together detailed plans to ensure that we are able to make good after we have completed the build of the mast and also after we restore the site to its original state.

Keith Frost, director of engineering at Arqiva

"This has meant that we have had to work closely with not just the landowner, but also the Park Authority as the local planning and Natural England to come up with schemes that are most appropriate to enable this.

"As a result, the 80-metre lightweight structure that we will be deploying, and we are onsite now doing that, is being moved into position using a helicopter and we will have to do this in sections."

He also offered reassurance that the company is doing all it can to fully restore services.

Read more: Claims Arqiva axing "experienced” staff has led to mast delays

Mr Frost said: "We recognise that due to the lower height of the temporary structure, we will not serve all of the areas that the original Bilsdale mast was serving.

"We are working on engineering solutions that provide service in those ‘not-spot’ areas in order to maximise the return of services to as many people as possible.

"This is a complex activity, we can’t just stick up a mast anywhere to provide those services.

"It has to be based on selecting a suitable location, without the need for people to repoint the aerials on their homes, but also in a way that the radio frequencies from those sites do not interfere with the signals from the other sites that we have in the area.

"So we are working round the clock to build this temporary mast at the Bilsdale site in order to restore services to as many people as possible."

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated North Yorkshire Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054