Hackers take credit card details from Cotton Traders site

Hackers have gained access to the details of thousands of credit cards used to buy clothing from the Cotton Traders website. The company, set up by the former England rugby captains Fran Cotton and Steve Smith, admitted security had been breached. All card-holders were, or should have been, contacted by their bank and issued with new cards following the attack in January. It is not known whether any members of the public lost money as a result of the incident.

Cotton Traders said a claim by the BBC website that the hacking involved 38,000 cards was "wildly inaccurate" but declined to state its own figure.

In a statement, the company added: "In January 2008, we identified a security issue. We immediately brought in industry security experts to resolve the problem."

Any customers who had fallen victim to fraud should contact their card issuer, the statement added. Cotton Traders has upgraded security on its website.