Marks and Spencer pauses online orders after reported hacking incident

The retailer, which has major outlets in Telford and Shrewsbury, said it was working "incredibly hard to restore services" for customers, following a cyber attack earlier this week.

M&S has already been unable to process click and collect orders in stores, with contactless payments also affected by the attack, which has impacted stores since last weekend.

Customers have also reported being unable to use gift cards in store.

"As part of our pro-active management of a cyber incident, we have made the decision to pause taking orders via our M&S.com website and apps," said a statement issued this afternoon (April 25).

"Our product range remains available to browse online.

“We are truly sorry for this inconvenience. Our stores are open to welcome customers."

In an email to customers on Tuesday after first confirming the problem, M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said: “I’m writing to let you know that over the last few days M&S has been managing a cyber incident.

“To protect you and the business, it was necessary to temporarily make some small changes to our store operations, and I am sincerely sorry if you experienced any inconvenience.”

The company has taken actions to protect its network and has also reported the incident to data protection supervisory authorities and the National Cyber Security Centre.