Amazon’s DVD rental service is pushing its prices up by as much as five times, in a move that customers have described as horrifying.

The LoveFilm by Post service, which allows people to rent DVDs by having them posted to their house and sending them back, is increasing its price by as much as 500 per cent, moving customers to a plan that costs £11.99.

Many users have speculated that the move is an attempt to push Amazon’s users towards its Prime video streaming service, which allows customers to watch films over the internet.

Most new LoveFilm by Post customers pay £7.99 per month to rent unlimited films. But some are still on much cheaper plans, paying only £2 per month.

Amazon has told customers that it is increasing the cost of those plans to £11.99 per month. It will also be reducing the number of DVDs that some of those users can have out at once, with customers complaining that they are paying more to get two films rather than three.

The updated pricing is set to be introduced from February 2016.

Amazon’s official forums have been flooded with customers complaining that the price hike will lead to them cancelling their account.

“That's a bit steep!” wrote one. “I will be cancelling as I assume most other people will be too.”

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Another complained that because of the limited library on Amazon Prime’s streaming service, they wanted to stick with the DVD rental scheme. Because of licensing rules, companies often offer a different library on their streaming and DVD rental services.

“If the Amazon Prime library was as good as Netflix, then it might not be a problem,” wrote another. “I'd rather pay the annual fee for Prime and keep LoveFilm as it is, or at least a lot lower than £11.99.”