Last night, Microsoft came in the firing line on the BBC’s influential consumer affair’s programme Watchdog.

The team looked into the new console’s potential faults, focusing on what has come to be known as the "ring of death" problem. Nicknamed by gamers, it is when three red lights appear around the console's power button and the machine stops working.

The problem has occurred in the first batch of Xbox 360 units produced, as Microsoft US conceded in an official statement issued last September.

"As part of our standard and ongoing process of analysing repair data, we recently noticed a higher than usual number of units coming in for repair", the statement read.

"Upon further investigation, it was further discovered that the bulk of the units were isolated to a group that was part of the initial manufacturing run of the console."

Microsoft offered complimentary repairs to owners of these consoles which had been manufactured before January 1, 2006, even if their warranties had expired. The company also said it would refund customers who had already paid for repairs.

But, it would appear that this deal is only good in the US. In the UK, gamers are being asked to pay between £80 and £90 to have their machine fixed, regardless of when it was manufactured.

>> Link - Official Site/BBC Watchdog