A cyber-attack has "severely disrupted" Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicle production, including at its two main UK plants.

The company, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, said it took immediate action to lessen the impact of the hack and is working quickly to restart operations.

JLR's retail business has also been badly hit at a traditionally popular time for consumers to take delivery of a new vehicle - but there is no evidence any customer data had been stolen, it said.

The attack began on Sunday as the latest batch of new registration plates became available on Monday, 1 September.

The BBC understands that the attack was detected while in progress, and the company shut down its IT systems in an effort to minimise any damage.

Workers at the company's Halewood plant in Merseyside were told by email early on Monday morning not to come into work while others were sent home, as first reported by the Liverpool Echo.

The BBC understands the attack has also hit JLR's other main UK manufacturing plant at Solihull, with staff there also sent home.

The company said: "We took immediate action to mitigate its impact by proactively shutting down our systems. We are now working at pace to restart our global applications in a controlled manner."

It added: "At this stage there is no evidence any customer data has been stolen but our retail and production activities have been severely disrupted."

It is not yet known who is responsible for the hack, but it follows crippling attacks on prominent UK retail businesses including Marks & Spencer and the Co-op.

In both cases, the hackers sought to extort money.

While JLR's statement makes no mention of a cyber-attack, a separate filing by parent company Tata Motors to the Bombay Stock Exchange referred to an "IT security incidence" causing "global" issues.

The National Crime Agency said: "We are aware of an incident impacting Jaguar Land Rover and are working with partners to better understand its impact."

In 2023, as part of an effort to "accelerate digital transformation across its business", JLR signed a five-year, £800m deal with corporate stablemate Tata Consultancy Services to provide cybersecurity and a range of other IT services.

The halt in production is a fresh blow to the firm, which recently revealed a slump in profits attributed to an increase in costs caused by US tariffs.