Orange mobile phone users in the Marlborough area are seeing red because they have not been able to get a signal for six weeks and attempts to find out when normal service will be resumed have failed.

Phone shops in the town said customers have been quitting Orange in droves.

Five weeks ago the Gazette reported Orange phones had been off since May 20 and was told by the firm: “A team of engineers is rebuilding the mast to enable us to provide better network service to our customers.”

But the network is still out of action. Some users say they have been told Orange is locked in litigation with the owner of land on which its mast stands.

Elizabeth Sprule, of Back Lane, pays £56 a month, £25 for her mobile phone and £31 for broadband. “I am paying for a service I cannot use,” she said. “Orange need to be shown up for their bad handling of a bad situation.”

Tony Becker, of Kingsbury Street, said: “I have been told it might not be back on until November.”

An Orange spokesman said: “We are currently working with a third party to improve the signal connection between masts and provide better network service to our customers. We would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.”