There’s bad news for Tinder’s youngest users - the dating app has upped its age limit from 13 to 18.

As of next week, under 18s will be blocked by the dating app, which is currently accessible to anyone aged 13-plus with a Facebook account.

The move follows concerns about children under the age of consent being groomed by older potential matches.

The Telegraph quotes a Tinder spokesman as saying the company has a “responsibility” to its users, adding that they have: “decided to discontinue service to under 18 users”.

The company estimates that less than 3 per cent of the app’s 50 million-plus users fall into the under-18 age bracket.

Tinder already prevents users aged under 17 from speaking to those aged 18 and over via the app.

All of this is open to abuse, however. Users are required to sign up using their Facebook account, but the social media site has no checks in place to verify ages.

This has prompted calls from the NSPCC and National Crime Agency for dating apps such as Tinder to start imposing checks.

Despite the move towards barring younger users, Tinder hasn’t confirmed how it plans to impose this change.

Image: Tinder