Marks and Spencer has temporarily stopped taking orders from its website and apps as it continues to deal with a cyber incident.
Shares in the historic retailer slid further on Friday afternoon after it confirmed the pause.
“We are truly sorry for this inconvenience,” the company said. “Our stores are open to welcome customers.
“We informed customers on Tuesday that there was no need for them to take any action.
“That remains the case, and if the situation changes we will let them know.”
The company has not been processing contactless payments and been unable to process click and collect orders in stores since Easter weekend due to a “cyber incident”.
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.
Shares in the company fell 4.8 per cent on Friday afternoon as a result.
