It was a case of local government by cellphone for most of Waitaki yesterday, after a Telecom fault left the Waitaki District Council's Oamaru headquarters without telephone lines.
A severe gale warning was issued for yesterday around Coastal Otago and Canterbury, but Waitaki emergency service manager Chris Raine said although no wind-related issues were reported in Waitaki, the council building on Thames St had been without telephones from about 11pm on Monday.
''We have had an internal issue with the council building. We have no phones or internet, so we're running on cellphones at the minute.''
Mr Raine said the problem resulted from of a Telecom outage.
However, the council was still taking calls through its Waihemo Service Centre in Palmerston, he said.
Council customer contact manager Jan Stringer yesterday said she had still not been advised when telephones would be restored, but said no council functions had been compromised.
