A campaign to improve mobile phone coverage in Thanet will be brought to the attention of company bosses in a meeting in Westminster today (Wednesday).

The Phone to Nowhere is a campaign led by South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay (Con) who will make a presentation to senior representatives of mobile network providers: Vodafone, EE, 02 and 3.

Residents have reported appalling voice coverage and limited data availability in many areas across the district.

Mr Mackinlay said: “The government is committed to investment across the country to improve mobile and broadband speeds, particularly in rural areas, but our experience in South Thanet is that urban areas receive a raw deal as well. I am determined to improve the situation.”

Information has been collated online with residents sending in their location, network provider, number of signal bars and data speeds recorded.

He said: “We asked for information from the public and we have had a good response.

“Increasingly in South Thanet people are reporting dreadful dropouts, lack of data and, particularly at the seafront, it seems very often you pick up a French or Belgian network but not a UK one.

“My worry is that people have got themselves into very expensive long-term contracts and they have got something that really doesn’t work for them and almost impossible to get out of.” - MP Craig Mackinlay

“My worry is that people have got themselves into very expensive long-term contracts and they have got something that really doesn’t work for them and almost impossible to get out of.”

Most of the poor coverage was reported by residents in Broadstairs.

He said: “A map of the area reporting the signals people are getting definitely shows Broadstairs to be the worst area.

“This is something I cannot believe is happening in this day and age – especially in Thanet with 200,000 people – and I am here to try and solve this.

“This has been ongoing for quite some time and hopefully this meeting will be a step towards it getting sorted.”

Mr Mackinlay hinted at an idea to solve the Broadstairs coverage problem.

He added: “A lot of people don’t realise that a phone emits a lot of its own power when the mast is further away, it takes less power to reach nearer masts.

“I have a novel solution for Broadstairs and have been looking at a location for a possible new mast which I will present at the meeting today.”

Anyone wishing to report their signal levels is encouraged to clickhere.