A deaf cancer patient in a remote village with no internet or mobile phone signal has missed medical appointments because hospital emails did not reach him in time.

John Bowler, 74, a former architect, is a resident in Llangwm near Usk, Monmouthshire, where residents say the issue is causing a number of difficulties.

Local people also said there is no Instagram, Netflix or home-working in their “cut off” village.

A spokesperson for the internet provider Voneus said the infrastructure it acquired from the previous provider “did not meet our high standards and we are now investing significantly to upgrade the network”.

John , 74, said he finds it very difficult to use the phone because he is deaf, so relies on emails to speak to his family and doctors.

“The internet is particularly important to me. I’m exceedingly deaf and have other health issues, and have lots of hospital appointments – most of those I arrange by email,” he said.

“I miss the appointment if I’m not careful,” he said, adding that he has “missed a few hospital appointments”.

John had his right ear removed during cancer surgery, which he said “needs a lot of following up”.

He also uses a hearing aid attached to his skull that needs regular maintenance.

“We’re particularly cut off because our neighbours are half a mile in any direction and we’re 300 yards from a road – so you can go days without ever seeing anybody,” he said.

“I’ve had several heart attacks. I can’t exactly run to a neighbour if I’m here on my own.”

Other residents spoke of having to climb a nearby hill – night and day – to make phone calls.

Residents in Llangwm said the internet is sporadic – sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

The small village – with buildings dating back to the 12th century – lies among rolling hills three miles (4.8km) east of Usk.

Just down the hill from John, Keri Williams lives with her family.

She was so fed up being cut off under the previous broadband provider, she decided to buy Starlink, an Elon Musk-owned company that provides the internet through a satellite dish.

“We would have no connection. I was working from home, my daughter was in college. She couldn’t access the internet, neither could I – it was an absolute nightmare,” she said.

“I’d have to walk up to the top of the garden to get 4G signal, or drive into town,” she said.

She said her children found it difficult to access their schoolwork online during the pandemic.

However, Keri said even her new satellite internet only works effectively on one side of the house, because she said it is blocked by trees.

As we sit in Keri’s front room, we wait to see how long it would take to load the BBC News website on her phone – even with the new satellite link it took around a minute.

“We got to the point where my son couldn’t play his games, his Xbox. My daughter being 18, she couldn’t contact her friends”, Keri said.

Just up the road from Keri, Jay Coleman is trying to log on to his own business.

“It’s very, very, very slow,” he said.

“The entire village goes down – I find it virtually impossible to work,” he said, adding that he also struggles to access Instagram and Netflix.

“From a Thursday through to the Monday we’re without the internet, without any form of contact to the outside world.”

He said he sometimes has to drive into town “at silly o’clock at night” to get reception.

Jay added that trying to get hold of Voneus “is virtually impossible”.

Voneus said it recognises “the issues with our communication and customer service in this area, and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused”.

Jay said the older generation in the village were often “stuck”.

Jay runs an estate agency and a holiday let business, but recently had to refund a large booking because the guests complained about the lack of internet and phone service.

He said the party “had no way of getting out of the village to make calls and tell people where they were”, adding that he had to take them into town so they can make calls.

“Unfortunately, we had to refund almost 90% of their stay,” Jay said.

“It was an absolute farce.”

A Voneus spokesperson said the company has been “working hard to improve the network in Llangwm”.

“We greatly appreciate the community’s patience and understanding whilst we continue to upgrade the network, and we are confident that the changes we’re making will result in a stronger, more dependable network for everyone in the community,” they said.