On Monday, Telstra issued a statement saying that the outage would continue for “several days” with a significant amount of repair work needing to be conducted.

However, Telstra’s online Service Status page says “customers may experience difficulties using home phone and internet services” until 7pm this Friday.

“We are working to make the necessary repairs as quickly as we can, but it requires the replacement of a significant amount of cable and it will take several days to complete,” Telstra area general manager Mike Marom said.

Telstra would not confirm how many customers had been impacted by the outage.

People took to the Western Advocate’s Facebook page to vent their anger.

One said it was “poor form” while another said it was “very inconvenient” for their home business.

“Very inconvenient when your trying to run a business from home,” Lauren Deveney posted online.

“Phone and internet down since Saturday. Reported yesterday to Telstra and while I've been given the October 28 as others have, I've also been told a tech will call me today,” Allison King wrote.

“I've been having Internet issues for weeks. When we've contacted Telstra we are told that the line is congested. I asked what he meant by that – too many houses using the lines. It needs to be upgraded. Can't tell me when this will happen but most likely up to 12 month,” Sandy Mack posted.

Bathurst West Public School was among the businesses affected and principal Darren Denmead said, while they still had internet services, the landline had been diverted to a mobile number.

Log your Telstra faults on 132 203 (residential) or 132 999 (business).