AT LEAST two convenience stores in York have been forced to close their doors temporarily because of a cyber attack.

The Spar stores in Lowther Street and Huntington Road are amongst more than 300 across the north which have been affected.

The company said on Twitter that its stores' ability to process card payments has been hit, meaning that a number were currently closed.

It said: "We apologise for any inconvenience, we are working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation."

The Spar in Lowther Street has a sign in the window stating: "Due to technical difficulties, we are closed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience."

A member of staff there said he hoped that the store would be able to reopen but this was dependent on the IT issues being resolved.

A spokesperson said an online attack on the IT system had impacted on a number of Spar stores across the North of England over the past 24 hours.

"We are working to resolve this situation as quickly as possible,"they said.

"It is currently impacting stores' ability to process card payments meaning that a number of Spar stores are currently closed to shoppers or only taking cash payments.

"We apologise for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation."