The Books Etc website has gone down just two days after launching.

The online book shop, bought by Capital Organisation after Borders UK collapsed last year, has put a statement on its website saying the site is “currently under maintenance” while it improved the speed of its search functionality.

It said the “urgent issues” had arisen due to the “overwhelming demand” for its services since launching on Monday.

It added: “Rest assured that we will be back as soon as we can.”

The malfunctioning of its website in its first week of trading will be a blow to the new business.

Books Etc has been gearing up for the launch for months, emailing its database of 1.3 million customers.