The Co-op has revealed that it has been the victim of an attempted hack of its systems.

The incident comes just days after fellow British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) faced a cyber-attack which has caused chaos for the retailer since last week.

According to The Guardian, Co-op told staff in a letter that it had “pre-emptively withdrawn access to some systems for the moment” to keep them safe.

The report said that the company had closed down several business services for staff operating stores and its legal services division, while the stock monitoring system is also thought to be impacted.

A source told the newspaper that some staff have been unable to work from home since Wednesday after Co-op blocked of remote access across several systems.

They also warned that if the issue is not resolved soon, stores could have missing stock on the shelves.

“We have recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems," said a Co-op spokesperson. “As a result, we have taken proactive steps to keep our systems safe, which has resulted in a small impact to some of our back office and call centre services."

The retailer assured customers that all of its stores, including quick commerce operations and funeral homes, are trading as usual.

It added that it is not asking its staff or customers to do anything differently at this time.

The move comes after M&S faced what is understood to be a ransomware attack by a criminal gang last week which has since impacted online orders, Click & Collect, and contactless payments.

The retailer stopped taking online orders last Friday as part of what it described as "proactive management" of the incident.

The company's shares fell by two per cent on Monday, having already dropped as much as eight per cent since the cyber issue was first disclosed on 22 April.

Earlier this week, the retailer instructed approximately 200 agency staff at its Castle Donington distribution centre in central England to stay home.

Agency workers, who typically support the warehouse during busier periods and constitute about 20 per cent of the distribution centre's workforce, were told not to come in, according to a person familiar with the situation. The company's permanent employees at the site have been instructed to report to work as normal.

It also blocked remote workers from accessing internal systems.

M&S, which sells premium groceries alongside clothing and home products, is scheduled to publish its full-year results on 21 May.

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