SAINSBURY’S customers who ordered their Christmas shopping online have had orders cancelled due to website difficulties.

The food store’s website went down on Sunday night and cancelled orders, leading to complaints from unhappy customers.

Sainsbury’s has apologised and said it is investigating what went wrong.

One shopper from Christchurch, who booked her Christmas delivery slot three weeks ago, said she tried to get on the site for two hours on Sunday.

“I was just adding a couple more items to my order, which was supposed to be delivered today, when the website crashed and a page came up saying it had closed for maintenance work”, she told the Daily Echo.

“By the time it came back online the order was no longer there.

“I tried for about two hours and kept refreshing the page and tried to phone them but the demand on the phones was too high.

“I had to go shopping earlier this morning to get everything myself which was supposed to be delivered.

“It’s not the end of the world but it is really inconvenient.

“I had to check with staff at the store in Sainsbury’s that my order was actually cancelled, just in case it still arrived.

“I haven’t had an apology or anything. As a loyal customer it’s very frustrating.”

Sainsbury's said the website "went down" for half an hour on Sunday night.

“We experienced a brief technical issue with our website last night, which has now been fixed," said a Sainsbury's spokesperson.

"Some customers experienced difficulties with booking or amending their delivery slot. We're very sorry for the inconvenience caused."