DISABLED Brian Seddon is thankful for his life-saving mobile phone.

When his BT land line went dead last week, he used his mobile to alert the company.

But he claims engineers took five days to fix the phone, and his call for compensation has been refused -- because weekends are not regarded as working days.

Mr Seddon, of Manor Road, Astley, said: "I think people must be informed that if their telephone breaks down on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and you need an ambulance, or your house sets on fire at midnight and you do not have a mobile, then you will die or your house will burn down.

"It appears that in this case the 999 service is only a five-day service provided by BT."

Mr Seddon said his line went dead on Friday, August 4, and he used his mobile to report it.

He waited until tests were completed and was told there was an underground fault which could not be reached until Monday, as engineers were not contracted to work weekends.

Incoming calls were transferred to his mobile, but by Tuesday afternoon, the phone was still off.

He said: "I rang the complaints line and was told the fault had been cleared on Monday afternoon, but my phone was still not working on Tuesday. They would not accept this, so I asked them how to apply for compensation and was told I was not entitled to it as Saturday and Sunday are not working days."

On Wednesday, he sent a fax complaining to the general manager at Lancaster, and was astounded to receive a reply from Belfast, as well as a fax from Lancaster, informing him his complaint was being looked at. If he had any further questions, he was told to contact an address in Cardiff.

He said: "Three different countries over one problem, what a way to run a national company."

A BT spokesman said: "I can confirm Mr Seddon reported a fault and to minimise any potential inconvenience, he was offered calls to be diverted to his mobile while repair was carried out.

"Engineers attended on the August 5 but the fault could not be dealt with until the 7th, when it was repaired.

"When the engineers have completed the repair, the team at the exchange were informed to remove the divert to mobile but this process can take a little while.

"BT's customer service guarantee offers compensation where a fault takes more than two working days to repair. This does not include Saturdays and Sundays. According to our records, the fault on Mr Seddon's line was repaired within that time on the Monday.

"On the safety issue he raises, our response is that health and safety is at the heart of BT's ethos. The company is very conscious of its responsibility to the public, customers and the community and it takes this responsibility very seriously."