Leicester City Council systems shut down after 'cyber incident'

The council has apologised for the inconvenience caused by the incident

Leicester City Council has shut down its computer systems and phone lines as it investigates a "cyber incident".

The authority said on Friday that it had disabled the systems temporarily as a precaution.

It said it was working with cyber security specialists and law enforcement agencies to determine what had happened.

The council has apologised for any inconvenience and said it was working to minimise disruption to services.

Richard Sword, the council's strategic director of city developments and neighbourhoods, said: "We have shut down some of our systems while we investigate a cyber incident, as a number of other local authorities have had to in recent months.

"We are liaising closely with the experts at the National Cyber Security Centre and law enforcement partners as part of our investigations.

"We apologise for the inconvenience this is causing, and will continue to do all we can to minimise any disruption to our front-line services."

He added: "People can still access advice and information on our website, including emergency numbers if they need to contact us.

"We are asking people to use these numbers only in an emergency.

"We are not able to say when our investigations will be complete. We will provide updates in due course."