UK ISP Eclipse's anti-spam software has proved a resounding success, blocking 513 million spam e-mails during October alone, the firm has announced.

The broadband provider claims it has been able to protect its customers against junk mail more effectively than ever before, as a result of new anti-virus and anti-spam software developed by IronPort Systems.

Clodagh Murphy, director of broadband operations at Eclipse said that, as well as saving businesses and home users time and sparing them [the] inconvience of disposing of the mail, the system safeguards against damaging viruses.

He said: "Unsolicited email clogs up inboxes and reduces bandwidth for the things our customers actually want. It can also carry viruses and spyware which are a massive security risk."

"As well as identifying and blocking a large proportion of spam before it reaches customers' mailboxes, our new anti-virus and anti-spam solution also provides the tools to allow customers to check and delete suspect mail before it can do any damage."

The figure of 513 million spam e-mails blocked by the ISP in October equates to an average of 191 per second.