Town centre shops have had to turn away shoppers as a result of a multi-day internet outage, with some residents denouncing cards and proclaiming "cash is king".
Residents across the borough have also had issues with their internet connections.
Town centre shops including Subway and Oxfam have been having problems with their internet connections since Friday morning.
Yum Yums Caribbean Cuisine has also reported issues, advising people visiting the town centre to "make sure you take cash" in a post on social media.
Other establishments say they are still taking card, including Boots and The Up Steps Inn.
A member of staff at Subway on Yorkshire Street said they "haven’t a clue" when they will be able to take card again, with the outage said to be having "a lot of impact" on business.
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At Oxfam, also on Yorkshire Street, volunteer Martin said the outage had been affecting the shop since Friday morning, with no end in sight to the problems, despite managers trying to contact BT.
He said customers have had to visit the NatWest branch across the road to take money out to make purchases.
Martin added: “It’s not ideal, if it did happen in the past it resolves within a day, but this seems to be more of a general thing. It must be a bigger job that’s gone wrong.”
He said that customers had been ‘understanding’, adding: “A lot of people like the idea of paying in cash, I like it because if you lose cash it just takes something to go wrong and you’ve got no money. People prefer the option of card, paying by phone, preferably cash, but then the banks are closing down some machine.
“In Saddleworth I won’t be able to withdraw money, it’s going that way. It doesn’t bring people’s livelihoods to a halt, but it makes it a lot harder.”
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Resident Bridget Donaldson, who lives in Higginshaw, said her internet had been off since Thursday.
Her provider, Sky, which uses the BT Openreach network, had initially told her the issue would be fixed by Saturday.
The 57-year-old said her partner, who lives in Shaw, then had his internet go down on Saturday.
Bridget, who is currently off for the school holidays, added: “They’re saying it’s an outage and that somebody will be out to fix it tomorrow, but I have asked for compensation because I’m paying for a service I can’t use.
“I can’t access anything on the internet. I can only get Freeview, I can’t get Netflix or anything like that.
“It’s just mad, four days going in to five days aren’t we.”
Facebook users shared their frustration at the outages. Resident Karen Nadin commented: “Another reason why cash is king.”
BT has been contacted for an update on the situation.
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