Co-op issues update on when empty shelves will be restocked after cyber attack

says it hopes to plug gaps on shelves caused by a cyber attack by the weekend.

, the convenience store giant said stocks on shelves would start to return to more normal levels over the coming days.

The Manchester-based group said it is working closely with suppliers to restock its stores after a cyber hack caused significant disruption across its retail chain and led to bare shelves in many of its shops.

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It said it was getting its online systems back on track in a “safe and controlled manner” after being forced to shut down some of its systems to contain the attack.

The group said there will be improved availability in its food shops and online from this weekend, with its stock ordering system now fully online again. The mutual added it is also now able to accept all forms of payment, including contactless and chip-and-pin.

A spokesperson for said: “Following the malicious third-party cyber attack, we took early and decisive action to restrict access to our systems in order to protect our Co-op.

“We are now in the recovery phase and are taking steps to bring our systems gradually back online in a safe and controlled manner.”

The mutual is among a number of retailers, including and Harrods, to have been hit by hacks in recent weeks.

, which has been grappling with the fallout from a highly damaging cyber attack since Easter weekend, revealed this week that personal customer data had also been stolen by the hackers.

It has not been able to take any orders through its website or app since April 25 as it tries to resolve the problem, although all stores remain open. The National Crime Agency has said it is investigating the attacks individually but is “mindful they may be linked”.

The Co-op’s stock availability has been hit particularly hard by the attack on its systems and shoppers faced empty shelves because of the continued fallout.

Reports say M&S could be looking to claim up to £100million from its insurers. It comes after M&S admitted a gang of cyber hackers had stolen a potential treasure trove of customer details.

Shoppers’ names, email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and what they bought online are among personal information that has fallen into the hands of crooks.

M&S insisted “useable” payment or card details had not been stolen, and there was no evidence at this stage that the hackers have used any of the information. However, it urged shoppers to change their M&S account password, just in case.