Pensioner raises health concerns after 32-foot internet mast goes up outside Eastleigh home

A pensioner in Eastleigh, Hampshire, says a 32-foot internet mast installed outside her home has disrupted her view and begun emitting a pungent odor, raising health concerns.

Ms Raye, 67, said the pole was erected with little warning by Toob Full-Fibre Broadband on a September morning last year. She has lived on Park Road for more than 30 years and says the mast’s appearance altered her sense of security. “Basically, the main problem of that pole being there is that I find it quite unnerving,” she told The Daily Mail. She said she had previously asked the company to consider extending underground cables instead of new surface poles, arguing that the installation leaves her fearing the pole could collapse toward her property. “If that pole came down in my direction, it’s absolutely going to hit the property, and I’m just living in fear when I should be actually able to relax in my own environment,” she added. She recalled having lived through fierce Caribbean storms and drew a parallel to the risk she perceives in the UK installation.

She also described how the situation has affected her health and daily life. The odour emanating from the pole, described by her as fuel-like, intensified during recent heatwaves, and she said she has suffered headaches and sleepless nights. A doctor wrote a letter on her behalf, which she supplied to Toob, but she reported receiving no substantive reply. “The smell is really pungent and strong,” she said. Toob later sent a contractor to mitigate the issue by wrapping the pole in a hessian-type fabric, but she contends that the odor persists and that the wrapping makes the street look unattractive. “I’d like to know what this chemical is that’s coming out,” she said, stressing that the issue remains unresolved.

Ms Raye also noted changes to birds and wildlife in her neighborhood. She said the nine bird boxes she maintains in the surrounding trees have not hosted any nests this year, adding that cables now run through trees that previously sheltered wildlife. She questioned why the network could not be extended underground along the road further from her property rather than installing a prominent pole. “Why couldn’t they have just extended underground cables rather than put this pole in, which is what they did when they connected the cables,” she said.

A spokesperson for Toob defended the project, saying the company invested more than £7 million in the Chandler’s Ford and Eastleigh network, and serves more than 17,000 premises. The statement noted that Park Road poles are used to serve households with affordable, ultrafast full-fibre broadband and that customers there report satisfaction with service. The company emphasized that it plans networks to minimize disruption and generally uses existing ducts or poles where possible, while acknowledging that new poles may sometimes be needed. It added that it engages with residents before deployment and welcomes feedback; if there is a broad consensus that a deployment is not acceptable, the company will pause work in that area.

Toob provided a timeline of its communications with Ms Raye. The last documented interaction regarding the pole’s location was on 23 October 2024, after which the company said it addressed her concerns. It said it received further communication from Ms Raye on 26 June 2025 and, following a thorough inspection, confirmed the pole as safe. The company stated that it had not heard from her since and urged direct contact if she wished to discuss the matter further.

The case illustrates the ongoing tension in Britain between expanding ultrafast broadband networks and the quality-of-life concerns of individual residents. While Toob points to the need for modern connectivity and its efforts to minimize disruption, Ms Raye describes a living situation she insists is no longer tolerable, framing it as part of a broader debate over how such infrastructure projects are planned, communicated, and reconciled with local environments and ecosystems.