The boss of an international publishing company has been left counting the cost after waiting two months for telephones and Internet to be installed at his new offices.

Louis Garnade, managing director of Summertown Publishing, asked BT to install the services at his new base in Aristotle Lane, north Oxford, on March 22 - a month before he made the move.

But by the time he uprooted from his old Summertown base, the telecommunications giant had still not installed an Internet system and could only offer mobile telephones instead of a working landline.

And it was only last week when BT finally managed to deliver the full range of facilities that are so vital to Mr Garnade's business.

He said: "We are purely an export company dealing with people in countries such as India and China and no-one could get through to us.

"People were ringing me at home and giving me orders outside office hours and I am sure we lost business. It has damaged our reputation."

He added: "It is incredible that it has taken so long, especially in a building where there are other businesses and existing telephone lines.

"Every time I spoke to BT I got a different person and no-one ever rang back."

BT spokesman Katie Emma Littlejohn said: "BT apologises for the severe delays.

"A systems error caused this mistake and we are fully investigating this to ensure we learn from it. We have spoken to the customer and agreed compensation for this error."

Mr Garnade, who continues his role full time at the age of 79 employing three staff, set up Summertown Publishing in 1998 in the Oxford suburb's Grove Street after 25 years of working in bookselling in the city.

The company specialises in providing teaching titles for students wanting to learn business English.