Thousands could be without mobile phone signal for months due to nesting peregrine falcon

Thousands of mobile users in Southampton could be without a signal for months because a rare bird has made its nest on a phone mast. Vodafone engineers trying to track a fault that has left people across the north of the city frustrated found a peregrine falcon squatting on the transmitter at Faraday Tower on the University of Southampton's Highfield campus.



They cannot repair it because strict wildlife laws ban them from disturbing the creature. Bird experts have warned that it could be at least June before the fledglings leave the nest. Now Vodafone is taking advice about what it can do to restore normal service to its customers. A Vodafone spokesman said he was unaware of this happening to any of its masts in the region before.

He added: “Falcons are a highly protected species we’re making sure that we’re very careful with how we proceed. We’ve been in contact with the RSPB and Natural England for advice and now need to have the site assessed by an accredited body as a priority. It does mean that at this point we cannot restore the signal on this single site until we have the right advice. While this is inconvenient for our customers, it is great news that the falcons are nesting in the city.”



A Natural England spokesman said: “They are heavily protected birds and can’t just be disturbed. “It is peregrine nesting season at the moment and they do nest on large structures but this is the first Vodafone mast I have become aware of where this has happened.” Tony Whitehead, from the RSPB, said the birds may not vacate the nest until the summer. He said: “They can not be disturbed during the breeding season. The bird will have fledglings until June so until then the mast is protected.”