A businessman based in a Norfolk village claims he was hit by internet problems for three months, which hindered the development of his firm.

Andrew Flintham, from St Marys Close in Newton Flotman, runs a YouTube advertising business but said his firm was hampered by internet problems which lasted for three months after he signed a new contract with TalkTalk.

The internet connection began to falter in November and he signed a new contract with the provider, with the promise of a better service.

But the broadband did not improve.

The 50-year-old said: 'It just wouldn't load up or the emails would crash.

'The bad internet makes Norfolk a laughing stock from a business point of view.

'In these times of recession it is so important that businesses are able to connect.'

Mr Flintham said the connection was so bad he had to visit a friend's house in Norwich to watch the YouTube videos he had produced on his own YouTube channel.

His firm makes adverts on the video sharing website for small businesses, but they were hampered over the busy Christmas period with a lack of internet.

'We have been trying to help small businesses but I was relying on emails,' he said. 'The work I have lost and the reputation to my business is unbelievable. I kept on at TalkTalk over the months.'

He has now ended his contract with TalkTalk and is switching suppliers this week.

A TalkTalk spokesperson said: 'We were sorry to hear of Mr Flintham's broadband issues and we sent an engineer and provided new routers.

'Mr Flintham switched suppliers so were unable to diagnose the problem. We have apologised for the inconvenience.'

But Mr Flintham, who has lived in Newton Flotman for six years, said the new routers had not worked and the firm was unable to diagnose the problem before he decided to switch suppliers.

BT engineers also came to try and fix the problem but the slow internet persisted.

He said it was 'embarrassing' to talk to firms in London and tell them his internet was down while trying to run a business.

Do you have a story for the Norwich Evening News? Contact reporter Tom Bristow on 01603 772313 or email tom.bristow@archant.co.uk