Teddington should regain its mobile phone signal in a fortnight, after nearly two months with next-to-no reception.

Three and Everything Everywhere, a merger between T-Mobile and Orange, started installing a new mast this week as residents continue to complain about the problem.

The companies refused to reveal the station’s location, but Richmond Council said it had informed the authority it planned to place antennae on Crest House in Church Road, Teddington.

Three and Everything Everywhere were forced to find an alternative site for the mast after dozens of residents in Traherne Lodge, Sutherland Grove, protested against them erecting it on their roof.

The campaigners said they were concerned it would be an eyesore and have negative health effects.

Meanwhile, phone users in the area started noticing they had no signal when developers took down another antenna on top of derelict Somerset House, in Somerset Road.

Self-employed translator Howard Gleave, who works from home in Stanley Gardens Road, said he first noticed he had no reception on October 14.

The Three customer, who uses an iPhone, said: “It was clearly the network. I switched off the phone, removed and replaced the Sim card as instructed but it didn’t help of course. The call centre staff were sympathetic but offered no practical help.

“The customer options team have contacted me a couple of times, but the only option they seem to be offering is to leave the network. That is what my wife and I are going to do but it seems an incredibly slipshod way of treating customers.”

Mr Gleave worked out the boundaries within which he had no or very weak reception with Three - between Fulwell bus station, the National Physical Laboratory, the Thames side of Waldegrave Road and Stanley Road.

He estimated dozens of customers living in the 1sq km area have been affected.

A spokesman for Three and Everything Everywhere said: “We have a site identified and we are due to start work there this week, which we hope to complete in a couple of weeks and go live shortly after that.”