BBC iPlayer down: Great British Bake Off fans tweet they can't watch the semi-final

"I just want to watch Bake Off...I'm so stressed," tweeted one fan.

The BBC's iPlayer service was down on Thursday evening (BBC )

The BBC’s iPlayer catch-up service went down on Thursday, to the frustration of potential Great British Bake Off viewers.

Users attempting to access the service were greeted with a black box reading: “BBC iPlayer is temporarily unavailable due to a technical problem.

“Please try again later," it added.

The problem reportedly started at around 6pm.

On Twitter, potential viewers complained of being unable to watch their favourite shows on catchup, with most tweeters saying they were missing out on the semi-final of the Great British Bake Off.

The glitch also meant viewers were not be able to use iPlayer to watch the BBC News live on BBC One from 6pm, and would have missed the quiz show Eggheads.

Strictly Come Dancing fans were also likely disappointed, as Strictly Come Dancing: It takes Two began at 6:30pm.

A spokesman from the BBC said at the time: "We’re aware we have an issue and we’re working hard to fix it."

The player is a free service that allows viewers in the UK to watch radio and television programmes aired on the BBC.