Arqiva says new Bilsdale TV mast on North York Moors on track for completion 'by end of spring'

At around 300m, the new mast is already one of the highest structures in the UK.

Work is now beginning to add broadcast equipment, which will allow the temporary system of interim masts and relay stations to be powered down.

Arqiva, the owners and operators of Bilsdale mast, is on track to complete the necessary installation before the end of this spring.

The original Bilsdale mast was wrecked by fire in summer 2021.

Arqiva, the firm responsible for providing TV signals from North York Moors transmitter to 670,000 households, has faced growing pressure from elected representatives across the political spectrum to say when residents could expect full coverage to resume.

But the company says up to 100 people have been on-site working hard to deliver the project in half of the typical timeframe for a development of such scale, in such a remote location.

Adrian Twyning, Chief of Operations at Arqiva, said: “The team continues to work tirelessly, including overnight in the equipment rooms, to restore the full-sized mast as quickly as possible.

"The structure itself is very near its full height.

"Once complete, we need to install the antenna at the top and the feeders - which take the content up the tower to the antenna - then we will test the transmitters before go-live.

"We will continue to update as work progresses.”

Mr Twyning said the location of the site and the structure meant that work was heavily dependent on the conditions.

"At around 300m, safety is paramount and for those reasons work cannot take place if it cannot be seen from the ground because of fog or low cloud, if ice is present or if the wind speed is too high,” he added.

"Under normal circumstances you wouldn’t choose to build a tall structure like this during the winter months, but we are committed to restoring services as soon as we can.

“We thank everybody for their patience and are sorry for any ongoing disruption.”