The major IT issue Simplify Group has been experiencing since 7 November is now under investigation by Leicestershire Police.

The problem meant that staff at Premier Property Lawyers, JS Law, DC Law and Advantage Property Lawyers unable to access their IT systems, leading to uncompleted transactions.

Cook Taylor Woodhouse and Gordon Brown Law were both unaffected, being run on different IT systems.

The police force says that it has, “received a report of a security incident and officers are working with the victim to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Meanwhile, a note on the Simplify website states that the “majority” of its staff are “back up and running on core systems, and are actively working on cases.”

It adds: “Over the coming days we will be reviewing next steps on cases and contacting all clients, on a prioritised basis, with more detailed updates as we move their cases forward towards exchange and completion.

“We very much regret any uncertainty and disruption that our clients and others have experienced over the past couple of weeks and now look forward to restoring confidence in our services as we progress their home-moves through to completion.”

Earlier this month, The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) said it has been “closely monitoring the incident” since it was reported by Simplify early on 8 November and that it “received assurances about the steps that the firms are taking to protect their clients’ interests by safeguarding client money and working to progress transactions that were under way when the incident occurred, wherever possible.”