References in music reviews on the iTunes site are also affected

A temporary error with the UK's iTunes Music Store has caused some inoffensive song titles to be censored.

Tracks affected include Hot by Avril Lavigne, which is displayed as H*t, while The Cheeky Girls' biggest hit has become Cheeky Song (Touch My B*m).

An Apple spokesman said a "database glitch" occurred when the service was checked for explicit references, and would be fixed as soon as possible.

Profanities are regularly blanked out on the online music store.

Songs with adult content also carry warning labels stating "explicit" or "caution".

J****y Cash

Other titles to be hit by the glitch include Long H*t Summer by Girls Aloud.

The company's spokesman said they did not know why their software was picking up the word "hot" as an explicit reference.

'CENSORED' SONG TITLES Smells Like T**n Spirit - Nirvana (pictured) K****r Queen - Queen H*t 'n' Cold - Katy Perry I Though I Saw A P***y Cat - Danny Kaye E*****a - Madonna

He added that the "censorship" was not intentional.

Meanwhile, the word "gay" is permitted, but the program is picking up some references to "lesbian" and partially blanking them out.

Artist names are largely unaffected by the problem, but Johnnys including late legend Cash and Mathis have lost their first names.

The Pussycat Dolls are fully displayed, but a recorded version of The Owl and The Pussycat has fallen foul of the problematic iTunes programme.

Other words that have been mistakenly picked up include killer - while murder has escaped.

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