British shoppers’ online shopping splurge may have been hit by a glitch that prevented millions of NatWest and RBS customers using their cards.

A technical problem with the banks’ systems meant shoppers were unable to pay for products both online and in store.

Shoppers had been predicted to spend up to £605m online yesterday on the busiest day for online shopping of the year.

RBS and NatWest’s 24 million customers were also unable to use online banking or mobile phone apps, The Telegraph reported.

RBS said: “We are aware of the technical issues being experienced by customers and are working to get them fixed urgently. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”

Shoppers took to social media to complain about being stuck at the checkout, petrol pumps and online without being able to pay.