Netflix Releases House Of Cards By Accident

The third season of House Of Cards has accidentally been posted online - two weeks early.

Netflix (Xetra: 552484 - news) called it a "technical glitch" and pulled the episodes of the political thriller within 20 minutes of them appearing online.

"Due to a technical glitch, some Frank Underwood fans got a sneak peek," the streaming service said in a statement.

"He'll be back on Netflix on Feb. 27."

The show's Twitter (Xetra: A1W6XZ - news) account cheekily posted: "This is Washington. There's always a leak. All 13 episodes will launch February 27."

News of the leak soon spread on Twitter, where fans reported diving in to watch the series only to find it had been taken down.

Some said they were able to keep streaming episodes that they had begun watching before the new episodes were removed.

Twitter said more than 55,000 tweets about the show were sent in the hour after the leak.

The award-winning series features Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood, a ruthless politician who stops at nothing to get his way.

It is based on a British mini-series of the same name which is set after the end of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's time in office.