Thousands of UK AOL subscribers lost broadband connectivity earlier this week as a result of a faulty network fix sent out by the firm as part of a broadband upgrade.

AOL sent pop-ups to 50,000 subscribers which when clicked on disabled their connections. AOL admitted that around half of its subscribers lost connection.

The pop-up announced: "We are conducting a network upgrade and need you to adapt your settings." It then offered a series of options.

Those who clicked on the pop-up lost their connections and were unable to reconnect. As a result thousands of subscribers besieged the AOL helpdesk.

AOL stated that it has dealt with each subscriber by phone either as a result of receiving their call or by calling them direct. Most of the affected subscribers have been able to reconnect to their broadband service.

Although compensation packages are being discussed for time spent calling the helpdesk and being on hold, no compensation is available for loss of broadband.

"We had to talk them through the process of reinstalling broadband drivers," said an AOL spokesman. "It is not something we are proud of but it is one of those things that happens very rarely."

AOL will send out an email to affected subscribers apologising for the problem and summarising the situation.