TELEPHONE company Vodafone has said planned work in Winchester will see its signal coverage affected until Friday - however customers say they were not informed.

In a statement the company apologised for the interruptions to services. They added: "We’re sorry some of our customers locally have been experiencing signal problems. 

"This is due to planned essential works to the mast serving the area.  Our engineers hope to have the service up and running normally by 27 November."

Many locally customers have said that they were not informed about the issue and that it will now affect the running of their businesses.

One shop owner, who did not wish to be named, said: "It is hard because I use Vodafone for my everyday working tasks and not having it available will hurt my business drastically."

Portfolio holder for local economy at Winchester City Council, James Byrnes, said: "I understand that if the work has to be done then it has to be done, but if they had given some notice in advance then that would have been helpful for local businesses."