Coles supermarkets across the country were unable to open on time this morning due to what was described as a “network error” that stopped sales being processed at checkouts.

Early bird shoppers had to cool their heels – and their shopping trolleys – until the glitch was fixed at around 10am.

One of the signs spotted outside a closed store read:

“We apologise. Our store is currently closed due to circumstances beyond our control.

“We are working to resolve the issue and will re-open as soon as possible.”

Another said a “nationwide computer problem” was to blame.

“Earlier this morning we had some minor IT problems in some of our supermarkets which were out of our team members’ control,” a Coles spokeswoman said.

“We apologise for any inconvenience our customers experienced earlier this morning.”

https://twitter.com/AustralisTerry/status/1030968334185971712

The ABC reported that at one supermarket in Canberra, customers were able to shop but could only be served at one register.

Back in April, Woolworths supermarkets were hit by a late afternoon technical glitch, forcing customers to abandon their shopping in the aisles.