An internet outage sparked chaos over the weekend costing businesses thousands of pounds.

Those living in Dartford, specifically Stone, Greenhithe and Swanscombe, suffered disconnection for many hours between August 31 and September 1.

The Co-op in London Road, Greenhithe, lost £4,500 in sales from 12.30pm on Saturday until 5.30pm on Sunday when the internet went down, forcing the store to go cash-only.

BT Openreach launched an investigation after a number of its fibre cables were damaged, impacting 6,000 residents, with several engineering teams dispatched to assess the problem.

Vans were pictured near the entrance to the A226 Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe which has been shut since a landslip last year.

Now, compensation could be owed to thousands of people.

In response, councillors have penned a letter to OpenReach to ask what steps are being taken to compensate those affected.

In a joint letter, Cllr George Holt (Con), who is Dartford borough councillor for Wilmington, Sutton-at-Hone & Hawley, and eight other councillors wrote: “The sudden and prolonged disconnection caused significant inconvenience and disruption to daily life.

“Businesses, too, suffered losses due to the inability to process transactions, communicate with customers, and manage operations effectively.

“We believe it is only fair that appropriate compensation is offered promptly, and through their relevant internet service providers.”

In addition, the letter asks for information on what caused the service interruption along with questions about what is being done to ensure such disruption does not happen again.

“Our primary aim is to ensure that the residents and businesses can rely on a stable and consistent internet service moving forward,” the letter adds.

BT Openreach has since confirmed that the work was completed at around 9.30pm on September 1 and all customers should be “back in service”.

While the internet is resolved for broadband, there are still issues being reported with phone signals.

The tech outage hit several businesses, with some saying they were unable to take online and card payments.

The manager of the Co-op in London Road, Stone, said the store lost thousands of pounds due to the outage.

Ty, who asked us not to use her surname, said: “Everything went down unfortunately, and we lost £4,500 of sales because our card machine was down.

“We run a lot of internet lines so when we lost that we couldn’t do most of our daily tasks or see when our deliveries were going to come in, so they would just turn up.”

Vulnerable residents were also impacted, including those who rely on the internet to power devices related to their health.

Damien Errington, who lives in Milton Street, Swanscombe, has Long QT Syndrome – an inherited heart problem that affects how his heart beats.

As a result, he has a monitoring device fitted in his chest which runs via an app which monitors him throughout the day and night.

He said: “At home, I rely on my broadband so it is a stable connection for the ILR [implantable loop recorder] in my chest as my actual phone signal is not brilliant which can be a pain when I’m out and about.

“It’s fine but without internet connection at home my monitor is unable to record throughout the night to alert the hospital of any potential issue to prevent a life-threatening arrhythmia.”

It is understood the damage to the cables was accidental and related to ongoing network restoration work following last year’s landslide in Galley Hill Road.

Cllr Holt, who lodged the letter yesterday (September 2), told the Messenger: “It’s really disappointing there was a huge lack of communication about the issue as it progressed, and we hope OpenReach gets back to us soon.”

“We are really keen to identify the root cause and find out what preventative measures will be taking place.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Claire Pearce (Lab), who represents Swanscombe, added: “I’m incredibly worried that this latest incident has also put vulnerable residents who rely on their internet connection at risk.

“Galley Hill [Road] has been the unwanted gift that keeps on giving - just when KCC think they are moving things along residents get another reminder that our local road infrastructure has been lacking funding for years and we are now seeing the results.”

A spokesman for Kent County Council said: “We have been working closely with all utility providers since the partial collapse of the A226 Galley Hill Road, Swanscombe, including Openreach.

“As part of the temporary diversion of utility services in the area, we had been advised that phone and internet cables had been temporarily diverted to ensure that these services would remain intact and local customers would not be affected.

“Openreach attended the site to ensure that local customers were restored as quickly as possible.”

A spokesman for Openreach said: “We understand how frustrating this was for those affected and would like to thank the people impacted for their patience while service was restored. Anyone who experienced any disruption with their phone or broadband should report it to their service provider - the company they pay for their phone and broadband - who will also discuss and arrange any due compensation.”

The letter to BT Openreach was also written by: Dartford borough councillors Cllr Danny Nicklen (Con, Ebbsfleet); Cllr Carol Gale (Con, Greenhithe & Knockhall), who is Cabinet portfolio holder for climate change and natural environment; Cllr David Mote (Con, Greenhithe & Knockhall); Cllrs John Burrell, Paul Cutler, Lucy Canham and Tom Oliver (Con, Stone Castle); and Cllr Anita Barham, Swanscombe & Greenhithe town councillor.