A software upgrade sent out to Sky+ boxes to support the new Sky Anytime service has left some punters bereft of all their recorded TV programmes.

Sky Anytime is a service which automatically records TV shows and films overnight onto an unused - and unavailable to customers - part of the Sky+ DVR hard drive. The shows are selected by Sky, and customers can't delete them, or even watch them if they don't have a subscription to the appropriate channel.

The idea is to introduce viewers to shows they might have not heard about, but would enjoy - though how many people are still undecided about Lost is open to question. But in some cases the upgrade needs to reset the Sky+ box - deleting all the programmes the customer has already recorded.

Sky claimed that only a "very small minority" of customers have lost their recordings, and it promised to investigate complaints before the next download, scheduled for a couple of weeks' time.

But if you've got a Sky+ box without Sky Anytime you might want to spend the weekend catching up on your viewing before it slips away from you in the night.

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