O2 mobile phone network fails in London, East Sussex and Kent

O2 customers in London and parts of the south east are experiencing severe service disruptions this morning with calls, texts and data all currently down.

The issue was first reported just after midnight on Monday; on its network status website, the company said:

"We've got a problem that means you can't make calls, use the internet, or send/get emails in parts of east London, north London, east Sussex and Kent."

Disgruntled O2 customers have turned to the social-networking site Twitter to voice their discontent.

O2 said it didn't have a timescale for when the network would be restored. In an update early on Monday afternoon, the company said that problems were due to "theft and vandalism" at one its operations sites in east London.

The company apologised for the inconvenience said its network engineers were working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.