TV bingeing service Netflix has revealed that Virgin Media has extended its lead at the top of the UK's broadband speed league, with TalkTalk now languishing in last place.

The Netflix ISP Speed Index is a monthly update on which internet service provider is fastest, with Virgin consistently topping the rankings in the UK. Netflix measures the average performance of peak-hours streams on Netflix, before working out the average speed a network delivers it on.

Virgin is way out in front with a speed of 3.30Mbps followed by BT on 2.96Mbps. Sky is in third on 2.74Mbps, with EE on 2.62Mbps and TalkTalk bringing up the rear with a meagre 2.59Mbps. O2 had previously been listed on the speed index but has now been removed following its acquisition by Sky.

BT topped Netflix's speed index in the UK as recently as April 2014, but has since been overtaken by Virgin with the company now extending its lead.

Globally Netflix uses data from more than 48 million users viewing over 1 billion hours of TV shows and movies each month. The listed speeds show how well an ISP streams Netflix during peak-hours, when networks are typically at their busiest and most unreliable.

"A faster network generally means a better picture quality, quicker start times and fewer interruptions", Netflix explained.

The performance of Netflix on some ISPs in the US has been a hugely contentions issue with the streaming service forced to pay Verizon and Comcast to create a "more direct connection".

On any given day Netflix can account for almost a third of all US internet traffic. The top performing ISPs in the US were Cablevision – Optimum on 3.10Mbps and Cox 2.99Mbps, with Suddenlink and Charter both on 2.86Mbps.