Customers in Kent were left without their food shopping today after a major supermarket faced a technical error with payments.

Sainsbury’s was hit with the problem overnight after a software update, meaning no Kent stores could take contactless payments for most of the day.

Despite this, the supermarket stayed open as usual but customers could only pay by using cash or chip and pin.

The problem subsequently sparked debate online about the importance of cash.

“Quite a few places refuse to take cash,” Stephen Kennett wrote on an Ashford Facebook group.

“This demonstrates the need for cash payments to be accepted.”

A woman named Charlotte added: “And this is why a lot of places are starting to take cash again! Cashless society just won't work.

“I got there and didn’t have my card, they couldn’t do contactless only chip and pin or cash...”

“Cash is king, period.”

Shoppers in Thanet also took to Facebook, with one person saying they think lots of people would have only realised the problem when they got to the till.

“[I] dread to think how many shoppers have filled a trolley, loaded onto the checkout conveyer belt to then be told ‘cash only’ and kicked up a stink,” Richard Gilbert said.

Gemma Hollandsnew was one customer affected and said: “I didn’t hear about it until I went to customer services before I had done my shop and luckily overheard people.

“I got there and didn’t have my card, they couldn’t do contactless, only chip and pin or cash. You had to go to Sturry Road Asda! [It’s] taken me four hours to get a food shop and get home to Minster again.”

The problem also meant that anyone who had a delivery booked would not receive it.

Bosses at the supermarket giant have since apologised for the inconvenience but have now fixed the issue.

"We can confirm that contactless payments are now back up and running in all our stores, alongside all other forms of payment,” a spokesperson said.

“Our groceries online ordering system is working as normal and customers can place an order for delivery anytime from tomorrow. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused by technical issues today - thank you for bearing with us."

Customers impacted by the delivery problems will automatically receive a voucher in their online wallet to apologise for the inconvenience caused.

All stores were open as usual and taking payment via chip and pin and cash while the issue with contactless was fixed.

Argos, which is owned by Sainsbury’s, was also affected by the software update, meaning customers may have had issues ordering new items or collecting orders in-store.

The retailer said there could have been delays in fulfilling orders placed on Saturday.