Residents living between West Melton and Yaldhurst are raising concerns about poor mobile phone coverage, with many reporting worsening reception in recent months.

The issues appear to affect areas along West Coast Road through to Rolleston,  on State Highway 73, where locals say cell service has deteriorated rather than improved.

Similar complaints have also been made about coverage at McLeans Island and around Halswell Quarry.

One NZ spokesperson Tegan Crawford told chrislynchmedia.com  “One NZ recently installed a new cell site on the corner of Painters and Hayes Roads which will improve coverage of the immediate area.

“The site is currently being tuned by our network team to make sure it performs at its best.”

To boost coverage further, the company is planning a new site on Weedens Ross Road on the southern side of West Melton, which is expected to launch within the next 12 months.

Crawford said that in McLeans Island, major attractions like the golf complex, Orana Wildlife Park and the adventure sport centre are covered, but dense forest means there are areas where signal can’t reach.

“We’re planning a future upgrade to 5G across this area,” she said.

One NZ is encouraging customers to report signal problems through its One Pin tool, which helps the company identify areas with high demand for coverage.

Coverage information is also available at one.nz/coverage.