Arts, crafts and hobbies retailer The Works has called in cyber security experts after its systems were subjected to an attack by hackers.

The company, which trades online and from more than 500 stores across the UK and Ireland, said it had shut down access to its data internally and externally after being alerted to the unauthorised access by its security firewall.

This had resulted, it said, in some disruption to deliveries and store functionality including till operations, but these were now starting to return to normal.

The Works said initial investigations had shown that the financial details of its customers had not been compromised.

“Customers can continue to shop safely at The Works, both in store and online.

“All debit and credit card payment data are processed securely outside the group’s systems, via accredited third-party networks and, therefore, there is no risk that this payment data has been accessed improperly,” the statement said.

However, it added that it “has not yet been possible to establish the full extent to which any other data may have been affected”.

The Works said that the work of the external forensic cyber security experts it had appointed was continuing and it had made “some immediate protective changes to further strengthen its security position”.

The company said that it did not expect that the incident would have a material adverse impact on its forecasts or financial position.