Groceries returning to M&S shops after cyber attack left some shelves empty

Groceries are gradually returning to Marks & Spencer shops after some were left with empty shelves in the fallout of a major cyber attack.

The retailer said it was well stocked with warm weather ranges such as barbecue, deli and picnic food.

M&S faced availability issues after taking some of its systems offline in response to the cyber incident.

Shoppers were met with empty shelves in some stores and a sign saying: “Please bear with us while we fix some technical issues affecting product availability.”

The company has not been able to take any orders through its website or app since April 25 as it tries to resolve the problem.

Stores have remained open, however, and it has still been receiving deliveries from suppliers.

A spokeswoman for M&S said on Thursday: “In chilled areas of our stores, customers can buy what they need, while in our grocery departments stock is now arriving in a more normal delivery pattern allowing stores to catch up from earlier disruption.

“Availability is therefore looking better every day.”

Earlier this week, the high street chain had been emailing all its website customers to alert them that some customer personal data has been taken by hackers.

Personal data that could have been accessed includes names, email addresses, postal addresses and dates of birth, according to M&S.

But the group stressed the data does not include payment or card details, or account passwords and is not believed to have been shared online.