Tesco website and app back up and running following suspected hack

ITV News Correspondent Helen Keenan reports on the Tesco outage that has left thousands of shoppers unable to buy groceries online at Britain’s biggest supermarket

Tesco’s website and app are up and running again after a suspected hack.

The outage, which left thousands of customers struggling to shop for groceries or track orders, began on Saturday morning and continued into Sunday, keeping the digital platforms out of action for more than 24 hours. A spokesperson said: “Our online grocery website and app are now back up and running. Our teams have worked around the clock to restore service, and we’re really sorry to our customers for the inconvenience caused”.

Tesco initially released a statement acknowledging there were "issues" with the website and app on Saturday, but on Sunday it revealed the problem was due to an attempt to "interfere" with its systems.

The shop insisted there was "no reason" to believe customer data was affected.

Customers were told late on Sunday they might need to enter a virtual waiting room before accessing the site as Tesco tries to manage the initial flow of traffic. The “planned” measure is regularly used at peak shopping times to ensure customers have a “smooth experience” on the site, the company added.

In an earlier statement, a Tesco spokesperson said: “Since yesterday, we’ve been experiencing disruption to our online grocery website and app.

"An attempt was made to interfere with our systems which has caused problems with the search function on the site.

"We’re working hard to fully restore all services and apologise for the inconvenience.

"There is no reason to believe that this issue impacts customer data and we continue to take ongoing action to make sure all data stays safe”.

Users attempting to access certain areas of the website were met with the message: "Sorry, there's currently an issue on our website. We're busy fixing it right now and hope this doesn't cause you too much inconvenience. Please come back and try again later. Thank you for your patience."

Concerned customers took to social media, many wondering if their pre-paid orders would be delivered, with others asking about refunds for orders they were unable to complete.

It is not yet clear how many customers are affected or whether the problem is nationwide.