The pretty street in beautiful UK city furious local says has been 'ruined' by 'eyesore'

A local artist is furious as he thinks a pretty street has been “ruined” by a Virgin Media telecoms box. 

The box was installed on St Saviour's Road in Bath, Somerset, in front of the property of local artist Sean Alexander.

Mr Alexander, who has lived with his family in Larkhall, a residential district in Bath, for nine years, called the box an “eyesore”.

The artist, who is originally from London, recalled waking up in early August to find a telecoms box in front of his historic garden wall. 

He explained: “The crux of our annoyance is that they can do what they want because it's on a public highway. The fact of the matter is there is no public consultation in this procedure at all — we would have given up space in our back drive to tuck it away if they had consulted us”. 

Virgin Media, who had installed the box, offered to paint it to appease the Alexander family, the artist claimed. However, Mr Alexander refused the offer as he believed this would draw more attention to it. 

Mr Alexander said he had spotted Virgin Media workers outside of his home the day before the unexpected installation and had seen them “messing around with manhole covers.” 

When he asked the workers what they were doing, they reported that their visit was for “Virgin fibre installation”. That evening, the family received a “generic” Virgin Media leaflet, informing them workers would be in the area. 

The leaflet stated that workers might have to dig up the pavement outside their home, but assured the family would still have access to their drive. 

The Virgin Media cabinet was installed on the road as part of the rollout of faster fibre broadband in the Larkhall area. But Mr Alexander claimed he "had no idea" about the telecoms box and was not informed about this. 

He said: "Where they have put the box, all of that stonework needs to be repaired, we can't do the repairs from the front side now."

The artist also noted that the process of implementing the box originated from the telecoms company, which had to obtain permission from the local council to install it. He said: "A telelcoms company will consider its distance from nearest infrastructure juncture, submit that to local authority - who say go ahead. Without consulting anyone else - including the people affected by it".

He believes it is only a matter of time until the box, which is on a public street, becomes a spot for rubbish.

Mr Alexander said: "If it had been tucked away it wouldn't be a target — but as soon as someone tags it, people start leaving rubbish and poo bags."

A spokesperson for Virgin Media told Express.co.uk: "We’re currently expanding our network to bring ultrafast services to homes and businesses in the Bath area. 

"We have spoken regularly with Mr Alexander and have explained to him directly that we received all necessary permissions from Bath & North East Somerset Council before installing this cabinet." 

Bath & North East Somerset Council is understood not to have raised any concerns over the installation of the cabinet. 

Express.co.uk has contacted the local council for comment.