St Helens Council hit by suspected cyber-attack

St Helens Council discovered the incident on Monday

A council has been hit by a suspected cyber-attack on its IT systems.

St Helens Council said the "suspected Ransomware incident" was first identified on Monday and an investigation was launched.

The authority said it had put security measures in place to keep its networks "running safely".

The council said it would continue to provide services via its website but added that some "internal systems" were affected.

A statement said: "Please be reassured that together with our cyber-security specialists we are working to resolve this incident, but obviously this is a very complex and evolving situation."

They also urged residents to be vigilant to signs of attackers.