Burma's military junta has cut off public access to the internet as it cracks down on the democracy protests that have hit the world's headlines over the past few days.

An official told the Agence France-Presse that the internet is not working "because the underwater cable is damaged".

London-based blogger Ko Htike said: "I sadly announce that the Burmese military junta has cut off the internet connection throughout the country. I therefore would not be able to feed in pictures of the brutality by the brutal Burmese military junta."

However he added that he would post "any pictures that I receive though other means...I will continue to live with the motto that 'if there is a will there is a way'".

Reporters Without Borders says that Burma ranks 164 out of 168 states in terms of press freedom, being more repressive even than China and Vietnam.

Bloggers in the Burmese capital Rangoon had previously been giving reports into the recent goings-on, including how soldiers ransacked a monastery.

Several people, including a Japanese photographer, have been killed in the clashes between the military and Burmese monks and civilians.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent)