A CUSTOMER trying to call British telecoms operator BT Group was left hanging on the telephone for a total of 20 hours, The Times newspaper reported.

Hannah King, 51, called a company helpline after a BT engineer failed to turn up to install a telephone line at her new flat in Milford Haven, south Wales, according to the paper.

For eight hours in a row, she endured the sound of piped music.

She gave up and tried again the next day - and waited another eight hours before putting the phone down.

The following day, she spent a further four hours on hold before hanging up.

That took the total time wasted to almost one day, the paper said.

“I was so frustrated and angry I broke down in tears,” she told The Times.

“It is a helpline for goodness' sake, surely a company as big as BT can answer their phones.”

BT admitted that a new calling system had left some customers in the lurch.

“BT would like to apologise for the length of time this customer was left on the phone,” the paper quoted a BT spokeswoman as saying.

News Limited