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Customers of mobile phone company O2 are experiencing problems after its equipment was damaged by thieves.

O2 customers in parts of east London, north London, east Sussex and Kent cannot make calls, use the internet or send or receive texts and emails.

Engineers are working to replace the stolen equipment and repair damage caused at one of the network's sites in east London.

The problem was discovered in the early hours.

Police were called once O2 discovered that there had been a theft.

The network has said its engineers expect the network to be working normally later in the day.

The company said it did not know how many of its 22 million customers are affected. It is planning a full investigation.

O2 would not give details of the damage or the exact location of the incident but a company spokesperson revealed it was "a well organised theft".

The spokesperson said: "Mobile networks are not completely fault-free but incidents like the one we have experienced today are extremely rare.

"In light of this we do not, as a rule, offer compensation but customers can be reassured that we are doing everything to restore full service as soon as possible following this unforeseen incident."