A Talk Talk customer service worker reportedly told an employee at a Putney café to “unscrew a socket and check for wires” over the phone.

The owner of Putney Pantry in St Mary’s Church, Issa Cissokho, decided to change internet providers and enlisted telecommunications company Talk Talk to do the job.

Mr Cissokho was told an engineer would come down with the hub and set everything up for no extra fee.

However, it was delivered to the café on its own.

After four hours trying to get the internet working without any luck, a customer service employee reportedly told member of staff Bart Watson over the phone to “unscrew a socket” to see what wires were there.

Mr Watson said: “He said can you unscrew the socket on the wall, lift it out and tell us what wires you can see at the back.

“It’s very dangerous.

“What if I had been elderly or didn’t know what I was doing? I, someone who’s not an engineer, was being told to check for wires by someone who’s not an engineer.”

Mr Watson was said he was also told by the person at customer service they would have to pay more than £100 to get an engineer down.

The café has had no internet connection or card service since Tuesday. It is also used as a business hub for regulars who get online while having lunch.

He said: “We are losing £100 a day because more than 50 per cent of our customers uses card.”

A Talk Talk spokesperson said: “We have contacted Mr Cissokho to apologise for any inconvenience caused and can confirm that the customer will not pay any amount towards the installation.

“We would like to thank Mr Cissokho for his patience whilst we resolved this issue.”

Mr Watson, who organises live music events at Putney Pantry, added: “Around 90 per cent of our customers, who are very unhappy about this, are regulars because we serve freshly made food every day and have a top chef who’s worked in the industry for 15 years.

“We would like an apology and for someone to come down and fix the problem.

“It’s ironic that in a modern world they are selling technology to make our lives easier and they have just made our lives miserable.”

Putney Pantry is located at St Mary's Church, Putney High St.