HUNDREDS of residents have been left without mobile phone signal after a mast was removed without warning.
And Vodafone has told the Mirror it could be up to a month before full service is resumed.
The signal blackout has affected customers in the Caterham and Chaldon areas.
It includes East Surrey Dial-a-Ride (ESDAR), which provides around 110 minibus trips daily taking elderly people to and from clinics, shops and the Douglas Brunton Day Centre in Park Road, Caterham.
ESDAR co-ordinator Roger Atkins said: "Our mobile lines to our minibus drivers have been down.
"In some cases, we have had to ring some of our clients at home so they could pass on messages to keep drivers in the picture.
"We have been given no indication when the problem will be rectified, which is frustrating."
Guy Riches, an HR manager of Hambledon Road, has been a Vodafone customer for the past 15 years.
He said: "It's causing me problems with my work and in keeping in touch with my family.
"I have had no signal for many days.
"Self-employed people and other businesses who rely on the network for their trade must be at their wits' end.
"And for others there is the sheer frustration at paying for expensive mobile phone contracts when your phone is unusable."
Pensioner Elsie Snowdin, who lives in Banstead Road, said: "I'm hopping mad about this.
"I couldn't text my daughter just to wish her a happy birthday.
"I rang Vodafone to complain and was held in a queue for 20 minutes.
"It's hard to believe that a big company like this can pull the plug on our service without any warning."
Complaints also emerged on a Vodafone users' website forum, with one saying: "I'm at a property being renovated and it's a real pain not having a working phone."
A Tandridge District Council spokeswoman said the original mast was located on the former Oaklands NHS site off Coulsdon Road in Caterham, which is now being developed for housing.
A temporary mast went up on the nearby Surrey National Golf Course in Chaldon in October last year, with the council's permission expiring on October 9 this year. In the meantime, two new masts at Westway Common have been installed but not yet functioning.
She added: "If the masts in Westway [Common] are still not providing service this is a matter for customers to take up with their operator."
Vodafone spokeswoman Jane Frapwell said: "Some of our customers locally will be experiencing coverage issues.
"Unfortunately the permanent replacement is not ready yet.
"Although we asked the council for an extension on the temporary site, they have refused so we had to remove it."
She said she expects the replacement mast to be in service "some time later this month".
Glenn O'Dwyer, who runs the Computer Solutions store in High Street, Caterham, said: "I will be over the moon if these masts give an improved signal.
"We've had an absolute nightmare."
