Boost for Hartlepool TV viewers as new Bilsdale transmitter mast reaches completion

Work to build the new Bilsdale mast, which enables Hartlepool television viewers to receive pictures, has reached a significant milestone as the final piece of steel work is mounted, representing the end of the structural phase of the massive build.

At around 900ft, the new mast is already one of the highest structures in the UK.

Work is now beginning to add broadcast equipment, which will allow the temporary system of interim masts and relay stations to be powered down.

Arqiva, the owners and operators of Bilsdale mast, is on track to complete the necessary installation before the end of Spring 2023.

Up to 100 people on-site are working to deliver the project in half of the typical timeframe for a development of such scale.

Adrian Twyning, chief of operations at Arqiva, said: “The team continues to work tirelessly, including overnight in the equipment rooms, to restore the full-sized mast as quickly as possible.

"As many will have seen from recent pictures, the structure itself is very near its full height.

"Once complete, we need to install the antenna at the top and the feeders - which take the content up the tower to the antenna - then we will test the transmitters before go-live.

“We thank everybody for their patience and are sorry for any ongoing disruption.”

The original mast was badly damaged in a fire back in August 2021, affecting aerial and Freeview digital channel signals in Hartlepool and the wider region.

The “beyond repair” structure was brought down in controlled explosions later the same year.