Businesses across Blackburn and East Lancashire are being affected by a global IT outage which has hit computer services and payment systems.

Issues have been reported across the world this morning, with airports, businesses and banks experiencing issues, grounding flights and affecting train services.

In the area, Northcote hotel has said they are unable to take bookings over the phone until further notice.

Northcote Hotel in LanghoNorthcote Hotel in Langho (Image: Archive)

A spokesperson said: “Please be aware, Northcote has been affected by the ongoing issues surrounding the worldwide IT outage and, as a result, we are unable to take any bedroom bookings over the phone.

“Bookings through our website are working as normal at the moment if you wish to book a room.”

Blackburn Rovers have also been affected, saying the issue is completely out of the club’s control.

A spokesperson said: “Due to a global third-party system outage, some online services, including our ticketing platform, are experiencing disruption today.

“This is completely out of the club’s control and is a network-wide issue across the world, which we are monitoring closely.”

 

The issues have also affected medical practices across the region.

Padiham Medical Centre said it encouraged patients with appointments booked for today to still attend but to expect delays.

They said on Facebook: “This morning there is a major outage with the clinical system that most GP surgeries use (Emis).

“This is causing major disruption within practices. Emis are working on it as a high priority and hopefully it will be back up soon.

“During this time we will have no access to medical appointments, medical records, booked appointments, prescriptions, or the ability to book new appointments.

“We are very sorry about this, unfortunately it is out of our hands.

“We still encourage patients with booked appointments today to attend the practice, however please be aware there may be delays.”

The SPAR store in Edisford Road, Clitheroe, said this morning they were only accepting cash due to a “technical issue” but said shortly after 10.30am everything was “back working now.”

Also in the county, Northern rail have said trains are still running but passenger information systems on platforms may not be showing and they are “unable to provide disruption information in the same way as usual.”

Some planes are airports across the UK are grounded as a result of the outage, but Manchester Airport said the “majority of flights” are currently unaffected.

Flight check-in and boarding is being carried out manually and some retailers in the terminals are unable to take card payments.

A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: “The global IT problems are affecting some of our airlines this morning. That means some processes like check-in and boarding are being carried our manually and are taking longer than usual for those airlines.

“As always, passengers are advised to check the status of their flights with their airlines before they leave for the airport and should follow their airlines' advice about the best time to arrive at the airport. We also advise checking up-to-date travel advice as some train services have also been affected by the issues.”