TELEPHONE company BT has angered Tow Law residents by putting up a pole a few feet from their homes.

People in Station Street thought they had persuaded the company to move the pole, which arrived outside Helen and Alan Mayman's home as they returned from the funeral of Mr Mayman's father.

And yesterday Mrs Mayman was astounded to be told by BT - whose motto is "it's good to talk" - that she could not pick up the phone and ask for it to be moved because they can only respond to a written complaint.

After the pole first went up, Mrs Mayman and other residents hoped that negotiations with sub-contractors and a BT manager had persuaded the company to find another site.

Durham County Council's highways staff, brought in by residents, even marked out an alternative spot.

But contractors returned this week to attach wires to the pole and cement it into place on the pavement, where it blocks the view from one of the bedroom windows in the Maymans' home.

Mrs Mayman said: "It is a couple of steps from my front door and right outside my son's bedroom.

"It is in the wrong place and it should be moved.

"When they brought it, they gave me a sheet of paper with an address on but no phone number.

"I didn't write because I thought it was all settled.

"It is ridiculous that I can't telephone BT when they are a phone company."

A BT spokesman said the site for the pole would have been chosen with health and safety requirements in mind and after checking underground services.

He said: "We have had a manager out to look at the site and it meet all the statutory requirements.

"We are happy to review the position once a written complaint has been received."