It is significant because Instagram’s chief executive and co-founder, Kevin Systrom, told regulators scrutinising his deal with Facebook that no other bids had been received.

The claims emerged in The New York Times days after Instagram, which allows members to apply simple effects to their photographs stopped allowing Twitter to embed images in tweets.

When Instagram members share a photograph via Twitter in now appears as a text link. Mr Systrom said he wanted its members to view their photographs within Instagram, or Facebook. In apparent response, Twitter has introduced its own filter feature.