Christie's £670m art auctions hit by cyber attack

Auction house Christie's attempts to sell art and other high-value items worth an estimated $840m (£670m) are being hampered by a cyber attack.

Lots ranging from a Vincent van Gogh painting, valued at $35m, to rare wine are going under the hammer in its spring auctions.

Would-be buyers are unable to view them on its website because it has been taken offline.

The sale of a collection of rare watches - including some owned by Formula 1 star, Michael Schumacher - has been delayed.

Christie's told the BBC it had been targeted in a "technology security incident."

But it said bids could still be placed over the phone and in-person, as normal.

"Christie’s has in place well-established protocols and practices, which are regularly tested, to manage such incidents," it said in a statement.

It has also set up an alternative website where basic information about the items due to be sold can be seen.

The outage began last week, but the historic auction house was still able to hold a charity auction for watches on Friday in Geneva, which was itself postponed from its original 2023 date.

The Only Watch auction raised 28m Swiss Francs (£26.4m) to accelerate research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Christie's New York auctions will begin on Tuesday with the sale of works owned by art collector Rosa de la Cruz, to be followed by art collections spanning the 20th and 21st centuries.

The 20th century art collection, itself valued at $500m, includes art by Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keefe and Andy Warhol.

And while people cannot use its website, they will still be able to bid online using its Christie's Live service.