Hundreds of people in Southend affected by internet outage

Sky Broadband and Talk customers in Southend including Leigh-on-Sea experienced a total loss of service for 14 hours over the May bank holiday weekend.

Sky blamed over-running essential network maintenance for the loss of service and said that engineers were quickly on site to fix the problem.

Reports of the broadband outage began at about 1am Sunday morning. The issue also affected other areas of Essex including Basildon, Braintree, Chelmsford and Maldon.

People impacted by the broadband and phone service outage took to social media to voice their comments, with some calling it outrageous and others demanding compensation.

Benjamin said: “Nearly 12 hours of no phone or broadband – unacceptable. No updates from Sky, nothing. Disgraceful way of treating customers. Hello BT.”

Another customer said: “No Sky broadband or talk in Southend. 45 minutes on hold and still no answer.”

Lou said: “Sucks to live in Essex and be with Sky Broadband right now… What is there to do without the Internet?”

And Maisie, a photography student, said: “Leaving writing a presentation to the last minute is not the one when you have Sky Broadband.”

At 1.30pm, a Sky spokesperson said: “Engineers have isolated the problem and are working on a fix. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

The issue affecting the broadband service was resolved by 4pm.