Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits new mast site near Malton

The mast that was originally located at the site was affected by a fire in August last year and the Prime Minister visited for a progress update on the restoration with Arqiva, the leading UK communications infrastructure and media services company and owner and operator of the Bilsdale mast.

The mast site sits within sight of The Buck Inn, Chop Gate, where the Prime Minister met with Arqiva.

Arqiva CEO, Shuja Khan, alongside members of the project team building the new mast, provided details of the project so far, including a reminder that the new mast is expected to be providing TV signals to the area in Spring 2023.

Temporary masts and relay stations have provided the service to the vast majority of viewers and listeners in the period since the fire.

Shuja Khan, CEO, Arqiva, said: “We’re sorry for the ongoing disruption caused by the fire at our Bilsdale mast. The Arqiva team has been in close and regular contact with Mr Sunak since the fire, to provide help and guidance to those who were experiencing problems with their service as a result and we have now restored some services to more than 99.5% of those affected.

“This incident highlighted the value that the public put on the TV and radio services that they get through an aerial and I’m grateful for Mr Sunak’s support for our mast rebuild project and welcome the opportunity today to update him personally on our good progress.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The fire at Bilsdale transmitter in August last year caused significant difficulties for many of my constituents, many of them elderly, who rely on broadcast television and radio services to watch and listen to their favourite programmes.

“While the vast majority of constituents did have their service restored shortly after the fire, I am pleased to receive reassurance that plans for the full restoration of these services are on track for spring 2023.”