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Virgin Media CEO Steve Burch has quit the cable operator with immediate effect citing "family and personal reasons."

Chief operating officer Neil Berkett will become acting chief executive "with responsibility for driving forward the company's strategy and operational development," the company said. The cable operator expects to begin a search for a permanent replacement "shortly."

Virgin Media chairman Jim Mooney said: "Steve has contributed significantly to the transformation of Virgin Media. Since he joined us, the company has emerged as the UK's only 'quad play' provider and a genuinely distinctive presence in the world of communications and entertainment. On behalf of Virgin Media's Board of Directors, I thank him for his contribution to our development and wish him every success for the future."

A filing to the US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission reports that Steve Burch, the outgoing Virgin Media chief executive, had very little to do with the forthcoming auction of the company.

Burch, who has received a £3.5 million pay off from Virgin Media, said he was leaving earlier this week due to "family and personal reasons"

According to The Guardian, Burch had been absent from recent private equity meetings with potential buyers, and suggests that his influence on the company's future may have been restricted by the company's US-based chairman Jim Mooney and shareholder Bill Huff.

Virgin' Media's filing to the US regulator also says that since June, Burch had not had contact with any "adverse party" - meaning those who may be interested in a change of control at Virgin Media.

In order to receive his full benefits, the filing also states that Burch will relocate to the US and is obliged not to say publicly anything that "criticises, ridicules" or "disparages" Virgin Media.