Thanks Pop80 + Monkey! Much appreciated... for a peace of mind.
I've checked the NTL status page @
http://www.ntl-isp.ntl.com/ServiceStatus/ and Stafford is one of the places listed on the bulletin dated 13-Jun-2005. It said that the maintenance was completed today at 10:47 after 6days 19hours 14minutes. This probably explains the problem we've been having.
I'm writing this on a work machine, so I'll check what the score is with NTL tonight on my home PC. If I'm online again, I'll write back on this forum tonight. If not, I'll write back tomorrow morning!