The internet outage that affected around 4,000 homes in Basingstoke and hospitals across North Hampshire was caused by digging on a building site in Brighton Hill, it has been revealed by broadband network provider Openreach.

A spokesperson for Openreach said the network in Basingstoke was accidentally damaged by a third party on Wednesday evening.

Openreach said it is a complex job to fix the broken network, and it may take some time to completely recover.

The internet has been down in areas like Brighton Hill, Hatch Warren, Beggarwood, Kempshott, Dummer, North Waltham and the Candovers since Wednesday (June 8) afternoon.

READ MORE: Internet and phone lines down in many parts of Basingstoke

The spokesperson for Openreach said: “Our network in the Dummer area of Hampshire was accidentally damaged by a third party working on a building site on Wednesday evening, affecting phone and broadband services for around 4,000 homes, businesses and other organisations.  Engineers are on site working hard to resolve the situation, but it is a complex fix and may some time to completely recover.”

“We know how frustrating this must be for those affected and we’ll be doing what we can to prioritise fixes for vulnerable customers and key local services. We'll also do our best to provide temporary connections wherever possible while this challenging repair work is completed. We’d ask that anyone experiencing any disruption to report it to their service provider who will then inform us.”

It has been confirmed that Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital has issued a major incident status because of the internet outage. 

Those working off-site from the hospital are unable to log in to their intranet for the past 16 hours.

This has crippled all communications and stopped staff from working remotely.

Posting on Facebook, the NHS trust, which also runs the Andover War Memorial Hospital and the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, said it was "continuing to care for everyone who needs our help".

The trust added: "If you attend one of our emergency departments for a non-life threatening condition, you may experience long waiting times to be seen."

Chief medical officer Dr Lara Alloway said: "Our contingency plans have been activated and we continue to operate safely but all our services are under severe pressure across all our hospital sites."

Meanwhile, Hampshire County Council has apologised to the residents for the power outage caused by their contractors.

The council confirmed that the incident occurred during the final piling works for the improvements to Brighton Hill roundabout.

It, however, blamed the "incorrect mapping of the cabling" for the accident, and said the "information and records showed the fibre optic cabling to be in a different position".

The council said in a tweet: “We apologise sincerely for the inconvenience caused to homes and businesses in the Basingstoke area by the power outage on BT's local phone and internet network.”

A spokesperson for the council said the local authority ensures its contractors have undertaken all checks to identify the location of underground services.

“This scheme was no exception but, unfortunately, the information and records available showed the fibre optic cabling to be in a different position which regrettably led to our contractor making contact with the cabling, while preparing for the final piling works for the improvements to Brighton Hill roundabout,” a spokesperson said.

“This has resulted in the power outage on BT’s local phone and internet network. Our contractors will be working continually, with BT Openreach engineers, through the night to restore normal service as soon as possible.

“It is expected that this will be completed within 24 hours, all being well.”