HUNDREDS of Virgin Media customers across the South East are without internet as the provider carries out "essential" work today.

Customers across the south coast including those in Brighton and Hove have reported Virgin Media outages, with internet and landlines down.

The issue began this morning, with residents reporting their broadband being down intermittently.

According to the tracking website Downdetector, which offers real-time updates on outages, more than 300 people had reported having issues with their Virgin internet around 9.00am.

Of these, 57 per cent of the complaints about Virgin were about the internet service.

Writing to customers, a Virgin spokesman said: "Hi, it's Virgin Media.

"We're carrying out essential works in your area on Monday, September 13, to improve your services. Sorry for any possible disruptions on the day."

More essential maintenance is expected to take place tomorrow and customers may experience further outages, the network warned.