A NORTH Yorkshire MP has said that the Bilsdale transmitter fire impacted a lot of constituents and he is “working hard” to ensure the refunds are followed through.

Chancellor and MP for Richmond Rishi Sunak said in a recent interview with The Northern Echo that the Bilsdale transmitter fire chaos did impact a lot of constituents.

However, he stressed that he had been told most people were already getting refunded by the BBC.

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He said he was working hard to make sure the BBC offer of discounts and refunds was followed through.

According to the MP, “lots of engineers” were working to bring back full service for everyone, and visiting people in their homes.

Pressed by The Northern Echo to say whether everyone who had been affected should receive compensation regardless of how long they were cut off, the Chancellor only said: “Look, the BBC have put a scheme in place and we are working individually with different constituents because everyone's circumstances will be different and it is reasonable that we get a proportionate response.

"From my own personal experience as a constituency MP we are managing to get discounts and refunds."

Recently it was reported that MP for Thirsk and Malton Kevin Hollinrake, was working with Arqiva to assist people found in “not-spot” areas.

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The MP said it was “very good to see Arqiva” and stressed that it had “been a very difficult time for everyone.”

He said: “We’ve had someone here who’s got an engineer going out on Monday, which is great, it shows there are real world solutions to these problems, so the reaction has actually been very positive from people who were very concerned when they first came to the stall.”

After an FOI request recently submitted by The Northern Echo, the BBC “could not say” how much it has paid in fees to Arqiva to broadcast from Bilsdale transmitter.

The broadcaster was unable to confirm how much money it had paid to Arqiva to broadcast from the TV mast but did confirm it does have contracts with the infrastructure company.

After an FOI request was submitted by The Northern Echo the broadcasting company issued a reply stating that the contracts between the BBC and Arqiva “do not break down the pricing for services in a station-by-station manner.”

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The Northern Echo has submitted a further FOI request.

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