Housing association Bromford, who have tenants in Gloucestershire, has been the target of a cyber attack.

Bromford has 40,000 homes across central and south west England and provides services for around 90,000 people.

The housing association announced earlier this week that they shut down their systems as a precautionary measure.

Chief information officer Dan Gooddall said that “someone or some people” tried to access their systems but they have no evidence that the hackers have been successful.

“As a precaution we have shut down all of our technology, this includes the systems which tell us which appointments we have, the systems we use to communicate with customers and the systems we use to interact with our suppliers.

“This means that we are only taking emergency calls on the main Bromford number but you can still make payments using our automated phone line. And you can still contact your neighbourhood coach by phone or text.

“We know how much of a pain this must be and we are so sorry for missed appointments and how limited our service is. Returning to normal can only happen when we know our systems are safe.”

In an update given by chief executive Robert Nettleton yesterday he said Bromford have been working extremely hard with their partners and have found no evidence of data breach.

He thanked all customers, suppliers and partners for their patience and understanding over the past few days which “has been anything but ideal”.

“We are now working to return to normal in a safe and controlled manner. Please remember that all our neighbourhood coaches, our income colleagues, and support workers are here to help you and work with you.”

Bromford also incorporates Bromford Homes, an outright sale business arm providing shared ownership homes to assist private and social renters move onto the property ladder.

The business covers a wide geographical area, predominantly the South West and Central England which includes Cirencester, the Cotswold, South Gloucestershire, the West Midlands, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and some areas of East Wales.

In December, Gloucester City Council was targeted by Russian-linked hackers who have caused months of disruption to services.

The cyber attack in Gloucester has cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds and some of its services are yet to be fully restored.