‘I miss it’: how fire left a swathe of north-east England with no telly

Fears loneliness among older people could be exacerbated with signal still down after mast blaze

They might live in one of the most picturesque areas of the country but residents of the small village of West Witton in the Yorkshire Dales are having to deal with the loss of a different sort of view: their TV signal stopped working a month ago after a fire.

The wife's not happy," said Eddie Hammond, a retired haulier, sitting in the Fox and Hounds pub. She hasn't seen Emmerdale in weeks. Mind you, one of the actors lives in the village so at least she gets to see him walk past the house sometimes."