Police looking for website hacker

The force's homepage was replaced during the breach

Computer experts at Devon and Cornwall Police are continuing to investigate how a computer hacker managed to break into the force's website.

Staff discovered the breach, which replaced the homepage with a page saying "hacked", last Friday and took the service offline.

The breach hit other force websites including the Safety Camera Partnership and the Police Authority.

The force said: "Such behaviour is a criminal matter."

A police spokesman said that the website carried only public information, such as recruitment, crime statistics and points of contact for neighbourhood beat managers, among many other pages.

"Secure systems within the force, such as command and control have not been affected. No confidential or personal information has been, or can be, unlawfully accessed," he said.

The sites are still offline. Staff are working to rectify the problem.