A VET giant with a practice in Bradford has spoken out after suffering a cyber attack.

CVS Group, an integrated veterinary services provider, said it has suffered “considerable operational disruption” after a cyber attack over the past week.

The company, which runs around 500 veterinary practices globally -  including the Oakroyd Veterinary, in High Street, Wibsey - and employs more than 9,000 staff, said it reacted to limit the impact of the attack but witnessed particular disruption to its UK operations.

The attack involved “unauthorised external access” to a limited number of its IT systems, according to CVS.

In response, the company took its IT systems temporarily offline in order to stop wider unauthorised access.

It said this was successful in stopping the hackers gaining further access to its systems but had a “considerable” impact on operations.

Specialist third party consultants are investigating the incident and the group has also informed authorities such as the Information Commissioner’s Office “due to the risk of malicious access to personal information”.

CVS said: “Through the efforts of our colleagues, we have continued to provide our usual high levels of clinical care to clients and patients at the majority of our practices.

“IT services to our practices and business functions have now been securely restored across the majority of the estate; however, due to the increased levels of security and monitoring, some systems are not working as efficiently as previously and this is likely to result in an ongoing operational impact.”

The London-listed company said it is accelerating plans to move its practice management system and relevant IT infrastructure to the Cloud as a result.

It added this, and the security response to the attack, “are likely to have an impact on operations for a number of weeks”.

The group has other practices across West Yorkshire, including in Halifax, Wakefield, and Huddersfield.

It also provides emergency veterinary care, equine vets, and services for farm animals.