BlackBerry users have been hit by a second day of disruption to email and internet access after an unexplained fault affected customers across the world.

The maker of the devices, Research In Motion (RIM), initially gave the all-clear on Tuesday morning after problems were reported on Monday.

However the fault struck again with users unable to access emails or the internet, or to use messaging services.

Mobile operators in the UK including T Mobile and Orange posted messages on their websites referring customers experiencing difficulties to the manufacturer.

Vodafone posted a notice saying: "Research In Motion (RIM) is currently investigating the issue as a priority to restore services as soon as possible."

Some customers vented their frustration on Twitter, with entries including: "You realise that sending a letter in a bottle and putting it in the Thames is more reliable than a BlackBerry" and "What did one BlackBerry user say to the other BlackBerry user? Nothing."

A recorded message for customers calling RIM's office in Slough, Berkshire said: "We are experiencing a BlackBerry service issue impacting some subscribers in Europe, Middle East, Africa, India and several carriers from the Latin America region who connect to the BlackBerry infrastructure.

"Technical teams are aware and the issue is being investigated."

Some media reports suggested that the outage was caused by problems at the company's Slough data centre.