NISSAN'S plant in Sunderland has been hit by the cyber attack which brought down health service computer systems across the country, it has emerged.

It is understood that production was first affected at about 9pm on Friday night.

A Nissan spokesman said: “Like many organisations, our UK plant was subject to a ransomware attack affecting some of our systems on Friday evening.

"Our teams are working to resolve the issue.”

The incident is "ongoing" and it is understood systems including those used in offices and on the factory floor have been hit.

Fellow car maker Renault has also been affected, while around the world, the Russian Interior Ministry said around 1,000 computers were hit by a cyber attack on Friday.

Several companies in Spain were also crippled by ransomware attacks.

Telecoms firm Telefonica was one of those reporting problems, along with courier firm FedEx.