The Scout payment service has been hacked, leaving users unable to pay for purchases, a retailer has told the BBC. 

In a statement, the retailer, which operates more than 200 shops in England, Wales and Scotland, said that the system had been compromised in late November. 

“The incident is now being investigated by the security team,” the retailer said.

“This is a very serious incident which has impacted our customers and we are working closely with the police and the relevant authorities.” 

It added that it had “recently introduced several security measures” in place to ensure that the Scout system remained secure. 

Earlier this week, the BBC reported that it received an email from the retailer that said: “There is a vulnerability in the Scout service.

The company is working to fix it and is looking into it further.

We are currently offering an additional security upgrade for those affected.” 

According to the BBC, the security breach has affected more than 2.5 million customers. 

It said that a review into the security of the system is being conducted by the Scout board. 

The Scout payment site was hacked in November after an employee found an unauthorized access to credit card data. 

Following the breach, the website reported that some users had not been able to use the system. 

A statement from the company said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience and are currently investigating the incident.”