UK company Pipistrel Software has developed software that can retrieve deleted text messages from mobile phones.

An edition of PhoneFile Pro which can manage the contacts database stored in any GSM mobile phone, recovers data stored on the phone's SIM card.

Using PhoneFile Pro, people can edit names and numbers, add new contacts, reorganise data by drag-and-drop, automatically convert numbers to an international format and save, print and exchange this data with other popular software packages.

Other features include management of fixed-dial phonebooks, SMS message editing and control of the SIM card's security features.

However the company has added a special "forensic" edition that provides the ability to recover deleted SMS text messages stored in the SIM.

Dan Isaaman, managing director of Pipistrel Software, said: "Many people think that if they’ve deleted a message, then that's it, it cannot be recovered.

"The fact is that some mobile phones continue to store this information even though, on the face of it, it's gone."

PhoneFile Pro can read all types of GSM SIM cards and will work with all GSM networks, as well as SIM cards that are no longer live on a network.

Typically, the SIM card is accessed using a SIM reader which is included in the package and is attached to a PC via USB.

The standard reader costs £47 with the forensic version costing £82.