Fasthosts has apologised to customers who were left without services after the company changed their passwords.

The web hosting firm was forced to take action following a security breach, and new passwords have been posted out to customers.

However, many complained that they have been unable to update their websites while they wait for the passwords to appear.

"Fasthosts would like to apologise once again for the inconvenience to customers affected by the recent password changes," a company statement said.

"Unfortunately, the measures were necessary to fully ensure our customers' websites and data were secure."

The hosting company said that it is working with all affected customers to help them receive their new passwords as swiftly as possible.

The password change was applied to a significant portion of the Fasthosts customer base who had not changed their passwords following an announcement about a network breach in October.

Fasthosts said that the change had been necessary because a very small number of customers who did not change their passwords had their FTP or website space compromised.

"Affected customers may have incurred a delay in being able to access their Fasthosts Control Panel, for which we apologise," the firm said.

"Certain customers who did not change their passwords as was previously recommended, and whose websites use automated databases, may experience downtime as a result of their database passwords being automatically changed.

"We apologise unreservedly to those customers affected for any inconvenience caused during the issuing of new passwords."