DEBT-laden cable operator NTL, which employs around 600 people on Teesside, has teamed up with Internet service provider Freeserve in a bid to win more UK business.

Freeserve has signed a deal to sell its high-speed broadband service over NTL's cable network, which covers 11 million UK homes.

Under the agreement subscribers to Freeserve Broadband will take NTL's phone package and will also be able to buy in its digital TV service.

NTL said the deal was the first time a UK ISP and broadband cable operator had developed a wholesale broadband cable offering.

A spokesman said: "We see this as an opportunity to bring in further customers to the NTL fold."

NTL now has more than 200,000 residential broadband customers of its own with a total subscriber base of close to 3 million.

Its cable network covers half the UK, although only six million homes can currently access broadband.

Freeserve is likely to begin marketing its Internet package in the third quarter of the current year.

NTL's US parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last week to embark on a vital refinancing programme.

The group, which has all its operations in the UK and Europe, ran up debts of £12bn after an acquisition spree in the tech boom.

A reshaped business is set to emerge in September, though services will not be affected as the restructuring takes place.