Queues for cash machine at Sainsbury's in Worthing after card payment system fails

Only cash and chip and pin payments are being accepted at Sainsbury’s stores nationwide today (Saturday, March 16).

As a result, queues are building for cash machines outside the stores, including at Worthing’s Lyons Farm.

Photos from the retail park show staff supporting affected customers, and informing them of the situation as they arrive.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “Due to an error with an overnight software update, we are experiencing issues with contactless payments.

"All of our stores are open as usual today, accepting chip and pin and cash payments.

"Unfortunately, this also means we will not be able to deliver the vast majority of today’s groceries online orders and we are currently unable to contact customers directly, but will contact them as soon as we can to rebook orders.

"We apologise to customers for the inconvenience and are working hard to fix the issue.''

In an update at 12pm, the supermarket chain said its online ordering system is ‘working as normal’ and customers can place a new order now for delivery ‘any time from tomorrow’ (Sunday).

A similar fault was experienced by McDonald’s on Friday. The system failure closed restaurants and disrupted orders around the world.