BORO sponsor and Middlesbrough pawnbrokers Ramsdens has warned customers their personal information may have been accessed by cyber criminals.

Ramsdens, the shirt sponsor for Middlesbrough FC, has emailed customers warning an “incident” involving unauthorised access to its IT systems may have “compromised the security of your personal information”.

Customers who have used the company’s online currency services, such as click and collect or travel card, may have had their name, email, postal address, phone number, password and date of birth collected by hackers.

The company, based in Coulby Newham with 127 branches across the UK, made it clear that no bank account or card details had been accessed and they were not at risk.

It said: “We are very sorry. The protection of your personal information is a priority for us and we want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to minimise any risk.

“Whilst at this stage there is no evidence that any of your details have been extracted, we wanted to make you aware of the situation and act in a wholly transparent manner.”

More than 34,000 click and collect customers are thought to have been affected by the attack, which took place in June.

Ramsdens have branches across the region including Middlesbrough, Stockton, Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, Bishop Auckland, Stockton, Billingham, Redcar, Consett, Durham, Peterlee, Tyneside, Wearside, Whitby and Scarborough.

The company is now working with experts to tighten up system security, but it stressed there was no evidence data had been extracted. The incident has been reported to regulators as a precaution.

Customers are being advised to change their password if they have used it on other sites, even though Ramsdens’ passwords are encrypted.