One thousand people paid £1,300 to buy the 'companion bot' within one minute of it going on sale in Japan this June, and then £250-a-month in rent.

Japan-based SoftBank included a clause in the ownership contract which said using the robot for 'the purpose of sexual or indecent behavior' breaks this rental agreement.

Disturbingly, computer pranksters have already reprogrammed the iPad hanging from its neck to give Pepper 'virtual breasts' which makes it shake its hips and moan when touched.

It has reignited the debate around so-called 'sexbots', with one roboticist telling MailOnline that machines which humans can realistically fall in love with are only 'years away'.

The revolutionary Pepper is designed to live alongside humans. It reads emotions, gives its owners advice and makes small talk.

The super-advanced machine is so human-like that it can mimic human behaviour such as empathy, and even love.

Its creators SoftBank have urged customers 'not to develop any sexy, obscene, or violent apps or actions for Pepper'.

 Unfortunately the innocent Pepper has fallen into the hands of Japanese computer programmers who rewrote its software and created virtual breasts for the asexual robot.