A NUMBER of Spar shops have been forced to shut following a suspected cyber attack.

Many stores across the North East and North Yorkshire were unable to open yesterday following the incident and remain shut, or are operating on a cash-only basis, today.

It is understood card payments cannot be processed in shops managed by Spar, though a number of independently-ran outlets are unaffected and able to open.

A spokesperson for Spar wholesaler James Hall said: "At James Hall we are currently aware of an online attack on our IT systems.

"This has affected around 330 SPAR stores across the North of England over the past 24 hours and we are working to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.

"It is currently impacting stores’ ability to process card payments meaning that a number of SPAR stores are currently closed to shoppers or only taking cash payments. "We apologise for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation."

One staff member from a North East Spar shop said: "We couldn't open yesterday morning and are shut again today.

"If we've no tills, we cannot open for customers.

"We are not 100 per cent sure when it will be sorted so we can open back up, it could be today, tomorrow or Wednesday."

Alex Kettlewell, Store Manager of the Spar shop in Aiskew, North Yorkshire, posted an update on Facebook to inform customers the store remains closed today.

He wrote: "Spar at Aiskew is still closed this morning due to technical issues.

"Spar has been subject to a suspected Cyber attack meaning it is across the whole Spar Estate not just our garage.

"This is currently been investigated and will be back open as soon as we are able to.

"Will send an update when I know this information. Sorry for any inconvenience caused."

However, the issue is not thought to be affecting stores which are managed independently.

The village shop in Staindrop, County Durham, for example, is open as usual.

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