Virgin Media customers will see their bills rise by an average of 4.7 per cent from November, adding between £1.99 and £3.99 onto monthly bills.

The firm has blamed the price rise on the 'continued investment in its ultrafast network'.

But customers who don't want to pay the increased fee are free to leave and switch to another provider without facing a penalty.

Virgin is putting up prices are rising on several bundles and for those with phone or broadband

The cost for most new and existing customers will rise by up to £3.99 per month from 1 November. It is writing to customers now to tell them by exactly how much their bills will change.

Those customers with broadband, phone and TV bundles will see prices increase by between £3.49 and £3.99 per month. Those with broadband only or a broadband and phone service will see the price go up by between £1.99 and £2.99 per month.

For customers with a bundle package, the biggest price hike will be to the 'Mix', 'Fun' and 'Full House' bundles of £3.99 per month or £59.88 per year.

Those with the 'Player' package will see an increase of £3.49, or £41.88 per year.

Those with one of the 'Solus' or 'Duals' packages of 50Bb or 100MB will see a rise of £1.99 per month and those with 200Mb or 300Mb packages will see bills rise by £2.99.

THE PRICE CHANGE TO VIRGIN MEDIA BUNDLES AFTER NOVEMBER 1ST Bundle Tier Previous price New price Solus 50Mb £32.25 + £1.99 100Mb £32.25 + £1.99 200Mb £37.25 + £2.99 300Mb £47.25 + £2.99 Duals 50Mb £40 + £1.99 100Mb £40 + £1.99 200Mb £45 + £2.99 300Mb £55 + £2.99 Player 100Mb £45 + £3.49 200Mb £50 + £3.49

300Mb £60 + £3.49 Mix 100Mb £52 + £3.99 200Mb £57 + £3.99 300Mb £67 + £3.99 Fun 100Mb £57 + £3.99 200Mb £62 + £3.99 300Mb £72 + £3.99 Full House 100Mb £68 + £3.99 200Mb £73 + £3.99 300Mb £83 + £3.99 Source: Virgin Media, 01/08/17

Virgin told us a small number of customers on legacy deals or those with premium services will see a higher price increase.

A Virgin Media spokesperson said: 'We do everything we can to balance keeping our prices competitive while investing to meet the ever-increasing appetite for broadband and content.

'Online usage increased by more than 35 per cent in the last year and streaming now accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the total traffic on Virgin Media's network.

'We're investing more in our ultrafast network to continue offering the UK's fastest widely-available speeds.

'This all comes on top of must-see TV programming – from Virgin TV Exclusives to the only place where you can watch all of the live football action from both Sky and BT Sport in a single package.'

It is possible for customers to avoid the price hike and switch to another firm without penalty

This is the first time Virgin has put up prices this year, following three price hikes last year. The last rise of up to £3.49 a month was introduced in November. It pushed up the price of a number of TV packages between £1 and £3.49 and line rental went up by £1.01 to £19 a month.

Existing customers who are not happy with the price hikes and want to leave will be able to without a penalty charge.

From the day they receive details of the price change from Virgin they will have 30 days in which to cancel the contract.

Letters are being sent out from today onwards and will have details of the price changes and the final date on which they need to cancel to avoid being charged a penalty fee.

Dan Howdle, spokesperson for Cable.co.uk, said: 'With inflation back in the room and with Virgin Media having announced in February of 2015 it planned to invest a further £3billion in its broadband network the writing was on the wall – the money has to come from somewhere.

'Nevertheless, with two price rises in a year, you have to ask whether this is it, or if this is it for now? How much more is it going to cost to stay with Virgin Media? Well, you can either hang on and hope prices level out, or you can switch.

'If you do choose to switch, just remember that a price rise allows you to do so free of charge no matter where you are in your contract. You have 30 days once notified of the price rise to switch without exit fees if that's what you choose to do.'

Virgin is currently being investigated by the regulator to see if it has broken consumer law in the way it charges an exit fee.

We have received a deluge of emails from readers recently who have been affected by Virgin Media's early exit penalty fee. It is one of the only major providers to charge a penalty fee if customers leave the contract early and Virgin isn't available in the property they move to.

Ofcom is investigating if these fees are fair and comply with the Consumer Rights Act, after receiving a number of complaints from Virgin Media customers.