Nearly 400 residents have told Graham that their mobile phones can show a strong 4G or 5G signal while calls, messages and mobile data simply do not work.
Graham has taken their experiences directly to EE and O2 and is arranging a meeting with Vodafone as he pushes the networks to investigate what is going wrong across Beverley and Holderness.
He told both EE and O2 that coverage maps and headline statistics are missing the real problem residents are experiencing.
It is not simply a question of whether a phone can find a signal. People are reporting full bars and 5G on their screens but being unable to do the basic things they pay their mobile network to provide.
And the same problem is being reported by customers on different networks and in different parts of the constituency.
The almost 400 responses Graham has received show what that means in everyday life.
One Tesco Mobile customer, which uses the O2 network, told Graham he cannot get enough data signal at Tesco in Beverley to start an EV charge. He has to walk into the supermarket, connect to its Wi-Fi, start the charge and then return to his car.
An O2 customer says he cannot use the Lidl app at the Minster Way checkout because his mobile data will not work.
An EE customer living around a kilometre south of Beverley Minster says he has to rely on Wi-Fi calling, while another reports virtually no EE signal around Parklands, Lidl and Spark Mill Lane.
A resident in Poplars Way says her calls constantly drop, while problems have also been reported at Flemingate and in Beverley town centre.
And it is not just Beverley. Graham has received reports of poor service from Hedon, Burstwick, Burton Pidsea, Aldbrough, Hornsea, Keyingham, Skidby, Leven, Lund, Coniston and Sproatley.
One Burstwick resident told Graham that when her landline developed a problem, poor mobile signal left her struggling to contact anyone.
In Aldbrough, a resident reported losing EE coverage during power cuts, including for more than 24 hours during one longer outage. Graham has asked EE what backup power is available at its local masts and what protection there is for vulnerable people as traditional landlines are replaced by digital services.
Graham has now asked EE to send network engineers to Beverley and is issuing the same invitation to O2.
He wants engineers to visit locations identified by residents, test the service people are actually receiving and establish whether congestion, capacity, infrastructure or another technical problem is responsible.
Phil Hinch, Hedon Town Councillor, said:
“People in Hedon are fed up with it. You look at your phone, it says you’ve got a signal, and then you can’t make a call or get anything to load.
“We’re not asking for the earth. We just want our phones to work when we need them.
“I’m pleased Graham’s getting the networks round the table and asking them to sort it out. If you’re having trouble with your signal in Hedon, fill in his survey and let him know exactly where it’s happening.”
Graham said: “Your phone says you’ve got 5G. You’ve got five bars. It should work.
“But nearly 400 people have told me that too often it doesn’t. Calls drop, messages won’t send and you can stand in the middle of Beverley with 5G on your screen and no usable data.
“That’s the problem I’ve put directly to EE and O2. I’m not interested in whether a coverage map says everything is fine. I want to know whether people can actually use their phones.
“And this isn’t just one network. I’m hearing the same thing from customers with different providers, which tells me this is a wider problem that needs properly investigating.
“So I want the engineers who actually understand these networks on the ground in Beverley. Let’s go to the places people have told me about, see what is happening and work out what needs to be done about it.
“If there’s a problem with a mast, capacity, planning or anything else, I want to know. And if there’s something I can do to help get it sorted, I will.
“I’ve got my teeth into this one and I’m not letting go.”
O2 has told Graham that its 5G+ network has been rolled out across Beverley and acknowledged that parts of the network serving the constituency can become busy during peak periods.
But Graham has told O2 that advising residents to use Wi-Fi Calling does not answer reports of apparently strong 4G and 5G signals being unusable in public places around Beverley.
He has invited O2 engineers to come to Beverley to investigate the problem on the ground.
EE has also been asked to investigate detailed reports from residents, including whether congestion or insufficient capacity is contributing to poor service, whether additional infrastructure is required and whether any planning or site problems are holding improvements back.
Graham is now gathering further evidence to take directly to the mobile networks.
Residents experiencing poor mobile service anywhere in Beverley and Holderness can tell Graham where they are having problems and what is happening by completing his mobile coverage survey at grahamstuart.com/mobile2026.
