Thousands of pregnancy testing kits are being recalled after women were wrongly informed they were expecting.

About 60,000 of the potentially faulty Clear & Simple digital pregnancy tests have been distributed in the UK and an unknown number have been found to give a false positive result.

China-based manufacturer Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech announced the recall following an investigation, admitting that a production error had led to its results “misleading consumers”.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has urged women who might have bought the test to check the lot number and expiry date to determine if it is among those affected.

Dr Duncan McPherson, director of clinical devices at the MHRA, said: “If you have any questions about using digital pregnancy tests, please speak to your healthcare professional. Patient safety is our highest priority. We strongly encourage anyone to report any issues with this product.”

The batch was manufactured last July and has been available in the UK since last November. The test’s packaging claims that it is “over 99 per cent accurate”, with a “clear digital reading” and results in five minutes.

Several customers raised concerns about the reliability of the product earlier this year. One, writing on an online parents forum, said she was feeling “confused” after a Clear & Simple test came back positive while another brand gave a negative result. Several others said they had received false positive results from the brand.