Families up and down the country were locked out of their homes after one of Yale's security systems apps crashed causing chaos for households nationwide.

People were unable to lock and unlock their homes for more than 24 hours.

Customers also complained they could not enable or disable their alarms, leaving thousands of homes vulnerable to burglars.

Yale blamed an 'unforeseen issue while carrying out unplanned network maintenance' on their Yale Smart Home Living App and urged people to bear with them.

They stressed that Yale's Conexis L1 and other smart door locks and their related apps were not affected by the crash.

But furious customers took to social media to complain of being locked out or having to put up with their alarms blaring for hours on end.

Families up and down the country were locked out of their homes after one of Yale's security systems (smart lock pictured) crashed causing chaos for households nationwide

One person wrote: 'We're stuck in the house now. This isn't good enough Yale.'

Another fumed: 'Guess I'll just wait outside my house then. Would have been nice to have heard from you BEFORE rush hour with some sort of notification.'

One customer told MailOnline he and his wife, recently discharged from hospital, were left stranded outside their home for two hours late yesterday.

A spokesman for Yale said: 'We are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused our smart alarm customers and we have been working tirelessly to resolve this.

'This issue has only affected the Yale Home app that controls the smart alarm.

'Whilst the app has had a loss of functionality, customers have been able to arm and disarm their alarms via their keypads and keyfobs.

'At no point has there been a breach in our security, and all alarms have remained completely secure.

'Our Bluetooth enabled smart door locks can operate independently via the Conexis app and at no point was this app affected.

People were unable to lock and unlock their homes with the Yale Smart Home Living App (pictured) for more than 24 hours. Customers also complained of not being able to set or disable their alarms, leaving thousands of homes vulnerable to burglars

'In addition, our smart door locks have various other methods of entry, including key tags, key cards and PIN codes, none of which rely on an app for entering or leaving the property.

'For safety, all of our smart door locks allow mechanical egress (ability to exit without the use of electronics).

'We have been keeping customers regularly updated whilst we fix the app and have been responding to all individual complaints and concerns.

'Our team is working hard to restore full functionality to the app and any customers experiencing issues should contact info@yale.co.uk'

Social media spokesmen for Yale UK earlier apologised for the inconvenience on Twitter, writing: 'We're very sorry but whilst working to fix the app we have experienced an unforeseen issue and the app is now temporarily unavailable.

'We can only apologise for the inconvenience this is causing our customers.

'Our team are continuing to work through the night to restore the app.'

This morning they added: 'We understand how frustrating this is for our customers but we assure you that we're working as hard as we can to bring you a fix as soon as possible.

'We'll update our social channels, HelpDesk and website with all future developments. Your patience is deeply appreciated.'