Phone lines have been restored in a village following almost three days of repairs after metal thieves struck.

At least 170 homes in Cuxton had their phone lines cut after underground cables were stolen in the early hours of Thursday.

Several hundred metres of cable were taken in Sundridge Hill, costing BT thousands of pounds to fix.

The last homes were re-connected at 10pm yesterday but a BT spokesman said there could still be some problems.

She added: “This was a complex fault which took a lot of time to repair. If people still have a problem this could be due to an anomaly and we would advise them to contact their phone provider.”

The theft took place on the same day the government announced a new scheme to tackle metal theft, making it easier to trace sellers of scrap metal and harder to pass on stolen materials.

Soaring prices on the global metal markets have led to a huge rise in thefts.

Insurance claims by churches in the Diocese of Rochester for metal theft have tripled in two years, as reported in Friday’s Medway Messenger.

A spokesman for BT said: “We would urge members of the public if they see anything suspicious to report it to Crimestoppers or to their local police.”