McAfee has offered to pay for the PC repairs of consumers affected by last week's faulty antivirus update.

The problematic patch falsely identified the SVCHOST.EXE Windows file as a virus, causing PCs running Windows XP SP3 to crash or enter endless reboot cycles. Among those affected were US police forces and Intel.

If you have already incurred costs to repair your PC as a result of this issue, we're committed to reimbursing reasonable expenses

In a blog post addressed to "Home or Home Office Consumers", the company offered to reimburse PC repair expenses, though there was a notable caveat.

"If you have already incurred costs to repair your PC as a result of this issue, we're committed to reimbursing reasonable expenses," the company said.

We've contacted McAfee to clarify what it means by "reasonable expenses" and whether a similar programme will be extended to business customers. We were awaiting a response at the time of writing.

In a canny bid to stop customers deserting the software en masse after the problems McAfee's also offering "a two year extension of your existing McAfee subscription free of charge."

There's still no word from the company on how such a serious fault managed to slip through its quality control process.