Apple has fired several members of staff at an Australian store amid allegations they stole customers' private photos from their phones in order to rank their appearances out of 10.

The company has denied reports saying staff and customers together formed a "photo sharing ring" in which pictures of customers were taken from their devices then shared with employees at a number of different stores in the Queensland area of Australia.

However, it said it does "not tolerate behaviour that goes against our values".

The Brisbane Times said that several members of staff removed pictures from customers' phones that were brought in for repair, as well as taking more than 100 surreptitious photos of customers and staff in the store for the game.