Virgin Media customers have been warned over a new £25 fine over failure to answer the door to engineers.

Customers who book an appointment and then fail to answer the door to Virgin Media engineers face being hit by the new charge.

The Mirror reported a text message sent to customers which read: “A £25 charge will be added to your next bill if you miss this visit.”

The “doorbell tax” will be added to customer’s monthly bill in a move which has been slammed by consumers.

Martyn James, of complaints handling group, resolver.co.uk, said: “Anyone who has spent ages trying to get an appointment for a fault – or has waited at home till the evening with no knock on the door – will be outraged that a missed appointment could result in a charge.

“The broadband industry has a pretty terrible reputation for missed appointments, service and sorting complaints. Until the sector has its house in order, it shouldn’t be charging extra for anything – including missed appointments and exit fees.”