Micromart, a UK-based console repair specialist, has ceased to offer repairs on Xbox 360 consoles suffering from the much-discussed Three Red Lights of Death.

The latest update on the company's website reads: "Micromart has now withdrawn from offering a Repair Service for the dreaded 3 Red Lights fault.

"This problem is endemic on the Xbox 360 console and the volume has made this repair non-viable."

This further emphasises the alarming unreliability of the 360, although Microsoft refuses to disclose failure rates, and remains adamant that it's not a significant problem.

"I would say we don't have a high defect rate," said Microsoft's hardware boss Todd Holmdahl in an interview with Mercury News. "The important thing here is that each product that comes out of the factory is rigorously tested. To ensure highest quality for our customer," he later said.

We CVG editors have had five (well groomed) Xbox 360s break down in the past eight months (which MS speedily replaced, may we add). But it's not fun.