Freeserve is busy trying to restore service to customers in the Midlands and the South of England after customers reported that accessing Web sites was proving impossible. The problem, which affects users of its AnyTime dial-up service, means that many Web pages load slowly - if at all.

Customers have told The Register that the problems began on Saturday morning. Others say it is more widespread that Freeserve is admitting, with users in Manchester and Leeds also reporting problems accessing the Net.

An announcement on Freeserve's Web site admits that the UK's biggest ISP is "currently experiencing data transfer problems with the AnyTime package" and "is working to resolve this issue".

A spokeswoman for Freeserve told us: "We are aware of some isolated incidences of connectivity problems in the Midlands and South East and our network suppliers are working to rectify the situation for affected users." ®