Reports suggest the incident began yesterday (25 November) evening, and as a result the hospital has cancelled all outpatient appointments scheduled, it says it will contact patients as ‘soon as possible' to rearrange.

A spokesperson said: ‘Our business continuity processes are in place, and our priority remains ensuring patient safety.'

The trust is urging all members of the public to attend the emergency department only for genuine emergencies and for non-urgent health concerns to use NHS 111, a walk-in centre, urgent treatment centre, GP, or pharmacist.

A staff member told the Liverpool Echo: ‘Everything is down. Everything is done electronically so there's no access to records, results or anything so we are having to do everything manually, which is really difficult. The damage is huge.'

Merseyside Police are not currently investigating the incident, reports suggest.