Internet outage hits businesses as engineers struggle with access issue

Internet issues in Dundee forced some businesses to go cash only, with engineers unable to fix the problem due to the fire at the former Robertson’s furniture store.

The outage happened yesterday, affecting almost 300 businesses and homes.

Engineers were unable to get access to repair the issue after the blaze at the abandoned building on Barrack Street on Saturday.

The building was gutted in the inferno, with firefighters battling fierce flames overnight and into Sunday morning.

Yesterday, signs were spotted in a number of shopfronts in Dundee city centre advising customers only cash will be accepted.

An employee at Flying Tiger in the Overgate said customers were deciding against purchases due to the problems.

On Reform Street, signs saying cards could not be used were seen at the German Doner Kebab restaurant.

Franky and Benny’s also has a sign informing diners it can only accept cash payments.

It had led to a quiet time for many shops, with customers avoiding using nearby cash machines as they charge for withdrawal.

An anonymous employee at Fuel Juice Bar said: “We’ve had a very slow day. People are looking at the sign and walking past.

“There is a cash machine round the corner, but it charges people to use it, and the next free one is further away.

“It’s definitely affected our sales today.”

A spokeswoman for digital network Openreach confirmed the issue was fixed at around 5pm yesterday.

She said: “While we’re not currently aware of damage to our network caused by the fire, a power failure led to the loss of around 280 broadband connections across three street cabinets today.

“Access was severely limited due to the risk posed by the damaged building.

“We worked with our power provider to get temporary power feeds to the cabinets, with service restored just after 5pm.

“We’re sorry for the down time and would ask anyone still having problems to report a fault to their service provider, who’ll work with us to get them back in service.”

“It’s definitely affected our sales today