Virgin Media lost more than 70,000 customers in its second quarter, it emerged yesterday, even as the group pledged that it would not get distracted by its sale process.

News of the customer losses followed Virgin’s announcement on Tuesday that its sale process has been derailed by the volatility in the debt markets. It is now on hold indefinitely.

The pay-television and telecoms group lost 70,300 customers in the three months to the end of June as its row with BSkyB kicked in. Virgin said that about 40,000 of the losses were the direct result of Sky’s removal of its basic channels from the Virgin service, after a row about what Virgin should pay. The companies are embroiled in a High Court battle, with no sign of a resolution of the dispute.

The losses could put further pressure on Virgin to get a sale away. They could also mean that a takeover by a strategic group is less likely, as it would be forced to fix the group’s problems in the public eye.

Neil Berkett, Virgin Media’s chief operating officer, said that the brunt of the impact of the row with BSkyB – which is 39.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times – was over: “The calls [about the Sky channels] have stopped. We have weathered the storm,” he said. Virgin’s overall net additions would, he said, be positive in the second half.

Virgin’s prospective sale was triggered by an indicative approach last month from Carlyle, the American buyout group.

Mr Berkett said: “If the deal happens or it doesn’t, the key thing is that we carry on building and growing this business.”

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