Skype Chat Down For Hours Across The World

Communications app Skype went down for several hours across the world because of what Microsoft describes as a "network issue".

Thousands of people used social media on Monday to complain that they could not make calls using the popular app.

Affected users were unable to change their status, start Skype calls, or see their contacts.

However the web version of Skype still appeared to work.

In a statement, a Skpye spokeswoman said the problem had been identified and fixed.

"We're in the process of reconnecting our users, and focused on restoring full service levels," the company's spokeswoman said.

"The issue did not affect Skype for Business users."

The communications company has apologised for any inconvenience caused by the network connection issues.

Skype was launched in 2003, and has more than 600 million worldwide users.

Microsoft bought it in 2011 for $8bn (£5.1bn).