A STRATFORD man whose war with cable giant ntl has raged for more than two years has thanked MP John Maples for securing his victory.

Derek Bedford, of Fairfields Walk, has battled to get cable services installed in his road after a mix-up before cable laying began in 1997 meant Fairfields Walk was missed of f the plan the installers used.

He said he had sent letters, e-mails and made countless phone calls but his efforts were met with a stone wall until Mr Maples intervened and demanded action.

He is now looking forward to being connected to cable television next week.

Mr Bedford's fight began back in 1998 when he telephoned the cable provider, then called Comtel, to get connected to the new service and was told cable was not available in his area.

"They had a good deal, cheap phone calls, television channels and a cheaper internet service and so I wanted to hook up," he said. "I was very angry when I was told this would not be possible because it was not available as I knew other houses in the next street had it."

After more than a year of delving, Mr Bedford discovered that Warwickshire County Council's highways department had omitted Fairfields Walk from the street plan it gave to Comtel.

The department apologised for the mistake, but the cable company, which now belonged to American company ntl, still refused to lay cable in the road.

A determined Mr Bedford got to work and said he believed ntl was breaking the terms of its licence agreement by its refusal.

"Enough was enough," he said. "I canvassed all the neighbours to get them to phone and write and agitate the company but we were still ignored. That's when we went to Mr Maples."

After two letters from the MP, cable was finally installed in Fairfields Walk last week and Mr Bedford and his neighbours will be connected next week.

"This has been ridiculous," he said. "If it hadn't been for Mr Maples, we would still be sending letters and making phone calls now.

"We owe him our thanks for finally making things happen."

Senior PR executive for ntl, Rebecca Walsh, said the road was missed out because of a "historic oversight".

She added: "We are sorry for the delay and wish to reassure people that this is an isolated incident and that ntl's policy is to construct as quickly as possible throughout our franchise areas."