Does anybody know if there is a minimum depth for a telephone wire going under a lawn and should it be in conduit.I have cut a cable so i am told and i dont think its less than 4 inches below the surface with no protection.The curious thing is that the internet and tv are still working.To fix it the company wants £135.

Being in the trade i know pipes need to be at least 500mm deep and protected! but goin with seeing other trades Ie sparkies i know theres roughly the same depth and all cables must be protected by conduite or have armour sheething. As for tv cables i have no idea if they have to go by the same rules, i would assume so tho!

I think you two are getting your wires crossed.

Don't listen to FareDodger - he's a phoney.

Call it a day lads

Did you hear about the homosexual electrician?

He got wired in to his mate!

I don't think there are any regulations for running pipes or cables across private ground because the owner of the ground can choose to change the ground level. It's different when running below public footpaths/verges where there are regulations in place. BT recommend 350mm and Virgin 250mm cover. Water pipes are recommended to be a minimum of 750mm below the surface anywhere, to protect from freezing.

Well done if you made it this far without falling asleep!

As far as BT are concerned, telephone cable / duct should be at least 450mm deep in unsurfaced private ground. That's the stipulation behind the rate the contractor is paid for the installation. In addition, if the cable is not in duct, i.e. directly buried in the ground, then it should be protected by an armoured outer layer, but still at 450mm depth.
In a public footpath the duct will be installed at only 350mm as it is protected by the footway surface.
Like a previous post said, though, the ground level in private property could have been changed without the depth of the cable / duct being altered to suit, in which case it would be difficult to prove liability.
However, in my opinion, if your cable is only a few inches deep and it was possible to damage it with a garden spade / fork (i.e. unprotected by armoured sheathing) then you're service provider is Virgin Media. Correct?

Yes you are correct virgin is the provider.Annoyed that it is not protected and only a couple of inches below path/grass.Would I have any luck with a letter explaining that the installation firm ( not virgin ) had not buried the cable deep enough.

cut off

If you don't get any satisfaction, this is the email address of the Chief Executive of Virgin Media.

neil.berkett@virginmedia.co.uk

Using jim corstorphines technical knowledge on phone lines(previous post)and eugenes email address for the head man at virgin media.I emailed virgin and finally received a reply. They will not be charging for any cable repair and they were sorry for any inconvenience caused.Thanks to the above posters.