JCT600 has issued a statement after a "potential security breach" was identified. 

The Bradford-based franchise car sales business told the Telegraph & Argus this afternoon that it was discovered yesterday.

Some of the company’s systems were taken offline immediately as a “precautionary measure”.

A spokesperson for JCT600 said: “On Wednesday 14th February, our IT security systems identified a potential security breach and, as a precautionary measure, we immediately took some of our systems offline to enable us to undertake a full IT security review, a protocol designed to protect all data.

“Our website, however, remains fully operational.”

An alert on the JCT600 website says: “We’re currently experiencing a network issue which is affecting our telephone and IT systems.

“This is causing delays to our sales and service enquiries.”

JCT600 said it is continuing to take bookings and deliver vehicles but warned people that there are some minor delays.

The spokesperson for the firm said: “This precautionary action is causing some delays to administration, but we are continuing to deliver cars and customers can use the website as usual to browse for vehicles.

“Our IT team continues to assess the breach, but at this time there is no evidence that any customer data was accessed, and we have full control of the IT systems.

“We will put all our servers back online as soon as our cyber specialists have completed their review and we are 100 per cent satisfied that a threat no longer exists.

“In the meantime, we are continuing to take bookings and deliver vehicles, although there is a little inconvenience and minor delays, but our priority is to proceed with caution with all potential cyber threats.

“Our teams are busy working to get everything operating as normal once again, and there will be no further comment until we are in a position to provide an update.”

JCT600 was founded by famous rally driver Jack Tordoff, who died aged 86 on October 3, 2021.

He built the business from a single workshop and petrol station into one of Yorkshire’s best success stories, now boasting more than 50 dealerships representing 20 of the world's most iconic car brands.