This is NTL now **** off!

Callers reporting faults to phone giants NTL yesterday were greeted by a recorded message telling them to f*** off.

A gruff man with a strong Geordie accent made the foul-mouthed announcement.

He said: "Hello. You are through to NTL customer services. We don't give a f*** about you. We are never here.

"We just will f*** you about, basically, and we are not going to handle any of your complaints. Just f*** off and leave us alone. Get a life."

It was on a line for call centres in Manchester, Swansea and Lanarkshire.

Company sources said an outside hacker breaking into the NTL system was the most likely culprit, though an employee with a grudge was not ruled out.