Skype has confirmed that a glitch in its software has been sending copies of messages to random contacts. Many ‘shocked’ Skype users complained that private instant messages had been re-sent to other contacts. According to The BBC, Skype then admitted messages sent between two users were being copied to a third party, in ‘rare circumstances’.

Some users said they would stop using the service because of the glitch.

The firm said it was working on a fix for the bug, which appears to have been introduced in an update to Skype applied in June.

According to the report, Skype said it hoped to put out a software update in the ‘next few days’ to fix the problem.

It said it would also prompt users to download and apply the update to prevent the problem spreading.