More than 300 Spar shops in north of England hit by cyberattack

More than 300 branches of the convenience store chain Spar in the north of England have been hit by a cyberattack, forcing many of them to close.

Some branches of the chain, one of the few places to buy groceries in many remote communities, are accepting cash but the rest have been forced to close entirely.

The IT outage first hit on Sunday and technicians worked through the night to try to fix the problems.

Distribution partner James Hall & Company, which provides food to nearly 600 Spar sites across the north of England, has also been hit, and its website is down.

The National Cyber Security Centre, which monitors computer-based threats to the public and private sector, said it was aware of the attack.