Irish Virgin Media customers are to see a group of channels return to their TV screens.

Virgin Media and UKTV have reached a long-term agreement, which will see all of UKTV's channels and services restored from Saturday.

Channels such as Dave, Gold, W, Alibi, Home and Good Food were removed form the platform in July due to a pay dispute.

The UKTV Group had said the media company wanted to pay "significantly less" to house their channels.

In their place, Virgin Media introduced four new CBS channels, which customers will also keep.

In a statement, Virgin Media says: "Our customers can now once again enjoy programming from the likes of Dave, Gold, Alibi and W.

"These channels include UKTV originals such as Taskmaster, Judge Romesh, and Emma Willis: and the very best of the archive from BBC, ITV, C4 and more.

"UKTV’s programming on Virgin TV Anywhere will also return so customers can watch programmes out of the home and on the move."

Some of the channels coming back to the Virgin Media line-up | Image: Virgin Media

Paul Farrell, vice-president of commercial at Virgin Media Ireland, adds: "We listened to the feedback from our customers over recent weeks and have worked hard to reach this agreement with UKTV.

"We are pleased that our TV bundles are now even bigger through our commitment to investing in quality TV programming."

The new agreement will also see more than five-times the amount of on-demand programming available on Virgin TV - according to the UKTV Group.

Simon Michaelides, chief commercial officer at UKTV, says: "Viewers are at the heart of UKTV and we want to thank them for all of their support.

"We know this has created real disruption for some of our viewers and we're so sorry for this, but we are thrilled to be back, broadcasting our channels and shows to customers of Virgin Media once more. "