LONDON — A British surveillance company has denied Ecuador's allegation that it planted a bug inside the South American country's London embassy.

The Surveillance Group Ltd. Said Thursday that the claim was "wholly untrue."

Chief executive Timothy Young said he and his company "do not and have never been engaged in any activities of this nature" and had first learned of the allegation from the media.

On Wednesday, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said a microphone was found last month inside an electrical outlet in the office of Ambassador Ana Alban.

Patino said Ecuador believed the bugging was carried out by The Surveillance Group.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living in the embassy for a year in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning about sexual assault allegations.