BT should be informing local residents of any plans to install street cabinets to support super-fast fibre broadband services, it has been claimed.

The broadband provider has been deploying the units – which are between 3ft and 5ft high – in towns and cities across the UK as part of its £2.5 billion fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband rollout.

However, a number of residents have now complained about the boxes, having woken up to find workmen carrying out installations without any prior notice.

Paul Burstow, the Minister of State for Care Services, told the Daily Mail that BT had behaved "outrageously" by failing to inform residents of its plans, and also for placing street cabinets in unsuitable locations.

One elderly resident in his Sutton and Cheam constituency, Wendy Russell, 77, looked out her front window to find a brand new FTTC unit blocking the view.

"It's an eyesore which I fear will lower the value of the house," she told the news provider.

Liberal Democrat MP Mr Burstow called on BT, as a company which prides itself on customer service, to "get a grip on the way it places its cabinets".

"It's just common sense to keep residents in the loop about work that is going on outside their homes," he stated.