PERCY Pigs have been squished by the Marks & Spencer cyber attack.
The ever-popular pink sweets were hard to find in shops yesterday as the chain’s IT systems have been crippled for more than a week.
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Signs next to bare shelves, which carried just a few veggie and low-sugar varieties, read: “Please bear with us while we fix some technical issues affecting product availability.”
Percy Pig fans, who buy 16million bags a year, are furious.
One posted online: “Lads, s**t just got real.”
Another said: “This isn’t just a cyber attack — it’s an M&S cyber attack.”
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The firm has battled to keep stores open since a hack began at Easter weekend.
However, it has had to shut off some computer systems, which has hurt its supply chain.
Staff are doing sales reports by hand, making it hard to get products from warehouses.
Wine, beer, drinks and chilled meats have been unavailable in some stores, along with the Percy Pigs and Colin the Caterpillar sweets and cakes.
Staff confirmed the shortages were caused by the cyber attack.
After photos circulated on social media of shelves without certain drinks and products — ranging from prepared chicken to salads and dips — an M&S spokeswoman yesterday confirmed that there were “pockets of limited availability” in stores.
The shortages mean fresh headaches for M&S, which is already losing tens of millions of pounds in online sales because it has suspended orders via its website and app since last Friday.
The firm had tried to contain the hack by suspending contactless payments and click and collect orders but the criminals are deep within its IT systems.
It is working with an army of experts, including from the National Cyber Security Centre and Scotland Yard.
The attack has been blamed on hacking gang Scattered Spider, loosely described as a group of English-speaking crooks mostly aged under 25.
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