ng industry trade association and lobbying organisation Federbet have stated that numerous European bookmakers were hit by a “very strong internet attack” over the weekend.

The group say operators in England, Austria, Malta and Italy suffered operational difficulties due to a “unique” computing attack which was “one of the most important” of the last fifteen years, although they insist that all operators affiliated to them avoided any type of database damage.

Federbet revealed that the unnamed perpetrators were attempting to bring about the “collapse” of web hosting firms.

A Federbet statement said the organisation would “pursue its mission of guardianship of operators and users” by collecting all of the necessary information to help law enforcement groups with their investigations.

One of the bookmakers affected by the attack, PlanetWin365, said in a statement: “We thank our users and partners for the support they have given us in such a difficult moment. Thanks to them and to the commitment of Federbet we were able to counter this onslaught by protecting sensitive data and returning fully operative."