MPS were unable to respond to emails following a cyber-attack in Parliament.

Hackers attempted to access MPs’s email accounts which could have been protected by weak passwords.

A digital services team had made changes to accounts to block the hackers, which meant staff were unable to access emails.

It raised questions over whether emails from residents were secure.

Colchester MP Will Quince said: “I had no access to emails over the weekend, it was only our access to emails which was cut off but no correspondence has been missed.”

At the time he advised anyone with an urgent issue to contact the office by phone.

Witham MP Priti Patel was also affected by the hacking, as well as Braintree MP James Cleverly.

Mr Cleverly tweeted saying: “The integrity of my correspondence with constituents is my main priority/concern.”

Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich, is still having problems accessing emails. 

He said: “There is no evidence I have been hacked but it has been very disruptive. I still haven’t got access to my emails.

“Clearly parliament needs to tighten up its digital security, and that’s what they are doing.”

Parliament is working with the National Cyber Security Centre to find out what happened.

The National Crime Agency is working with the NCSC on the issue.

It tweeted: “We’re aware of a possible cyber incident affecting parliament & are actively cooperating with @ncsc who’re leading the operational response.”