There are many films people like to watch during the festive season, but Netflix fans have angrily turned against the platform after discovering Christmas classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas has been pulled from the library.

UK Netflix fans reportedly woke up recently to discover that the Grinch film was no longer available. Many of them took to Twitter to vent their frustration, with one saying their kids were crying as a result of finding they couldn’t watch the movie.

Netflix has been accused of ‘channelling their inner Scrooge’ and ‘ruining Christmas’ due to the move. After fans asked the Netflix Help Center to explain themselves, a response eventually materialised.

The streaming service said: ‘Netflix licenses TV shows and movies from studios and content providers around the world, and those licenses can expire if we don’t renew them.

‘Though we strive to keep the content you want to see, we acquire licensing rights for TV shows and movies for a certain period of time – not indefinitely – so some titles do leave Netflix.

‘Whenever a TV show or movie is expiring, we evaluate whether or not to renew it using the same criteria we apply to potential new content.’

US Netflix subscribers can relax, as to date, the film is still available for them.

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