Vodafone signals in the Monmouth area are still patchy and weak three weeks after the problem was reported to the communications giant.

Last week residents from Redbrook and the surrounding area held a meeting to discuss the problem.

Residents have complained to the company in vain. More annoyingly, they claim there is no continuity of information, people being told everything from "There is no problem reported in your area" to "We have fixed the problem".

The Vodafone forum for Redbrook is teaming with residents complaining about the misinformation and "random and unconvincing responses" their complaints to Vodafone have elicited.

The following is an official statement from Jane Frapwell in Vodafone's Responsibility and Reputation department: "We're aware we have some network problems in Redbrook and surrounding areas.

"We're sorry customers are being inconvenienced and our engineers are working to get the service up and running as soon as possible.

"We believe the fault lies with a link which connects the affected masts into the network.

"We are treating this as a priority."

Vodafone clients are being offered a line rental refund on a pro-rata basis for their line rental but Karen Davies, who was the organiser of last week's resident's meeting, says: "The offered compensation in no way represents the loss of earning for those of us who are self employed and the loss of security for those who rely on their mobile phones for contact with vulnerable family members."

Vodafone clients are understandably frustrated and upset by the lack of action on the issue and have recruited local MP, David Davies to their cause.

Mr Davies has contacted individuals to pledge his support and also wrote to the Head of Government Affairs at Vodafone and the Communications Ombudsman. He has also pledged to raise the matter in the House of Commons if the issue is not clarified and resolved by next week.

In response to Mr Davies email, Julie Pearson at Vodafone Government Affairs responded: "We have a number of sites linked in a chain in the area, and a problem with the first link in the chain has meant that other sites further on in the chain have also experienced problems at different times over the last couple of weeks.

"The sites affected are at Cwmbran, Usk, Coleford, Monmouth and Newport."

Vodafone are now expecting to restore services to these areas on Thursday. Mr Davies is urging constituents to contact him if this has not happened in their area.

Regarding compensation, Vodafone sends this message" "Contract customers who have lost all mobile services for more than three days in a row, we will look at reimbursing them for the line rental charges for the period in which they did not receive service, and we ask them to contact our customer relations team using 191 on their Vodafone mobile, or 0870 0700 191 from another mobile or landline, and we'll handle each case on an individual basis."