Shoppers across Swindon and Wiltshire are unable to pay by card in major food shops and restaurants.

The card payment issues were first reported on Thursday morning, July 11, and appear to be affecting customers wanting to make Visa and Mastercard payments.

Shoppers at Asda, Sainsbury's, M&S, Tesco and McDonald's across the UK have all been affected so far, and the issue is believed to be nationwide at many major retailers.

In Swindon, shoppers in both Sainsbury's in Stratton, Asda Orbital and Asda West Swindon have been affected, and dozens more stores are suspected to be experiencing the same issue.

While some shoppers are having to abandon their trolleys and purchases to simply go home until the issue is fixed, others are being forced to pay using cash.

The cause of the issue is not yet known, but the spike in reports began shortly before 8am.

Visa has confirmed to Metro that its systems are working normally.

A Visa spokesperson said: "We are aware that some cardholders are experiencing issues when making payments.

"While Visa’s systems are operating normally, we are working with our partners to investigate."