A KINGSCLERE family were left puzzled and frustrated after a mysterious ‘blackout’ of all wireless devices left them without heating, a doorbell, a working shower or remote locking for their car for four days over Christmas.

Chris Smith was left £250 out of pocket after calling in engineers to try and fix the heating and shower before realising that the problems were external.

Mr Smith, 50, said: “It was highly inconvenient, especially over Christmas.”

On the morning of Christmas Eve, his wife Arlene’s 46th birthday, he noticed that the central heating, which relies on a wireless thermostat, wasn’t on and he discovered soon after that their digital shower wasn’t working.

It was when a heating engineer arrived at their Ash Grove home and had to telephone from the doorstep that the family realised that their doorbell, which relies on a wireless connection, was also not working.

The mystery deepened when they found the engineer was unable to unlock his van using the remote controlled key.

Their problems continued until about 5pm on the afternoon of December 27 when everything suddenly started working again.

The father of three said: “Through facebook we learned that we were not alone and that all over the village people were having problems with remote controls and car locking.

“The question is what caused this. I just want to know what happened.”

- If you were affected by similar problems over the Christmas period please contact Helen Morton on 01256 337409 or email helen.morton@basingstokegazette.co.uk