Police are investigating a break in at it WH Smith Online's Oxfordshire base, following the alleged theft of two servers and a quantity of DVDs.

It's understood the incident happened a fortnight ago causing WH Smith Online's site to crash.

It's alleged that the theft may have been an inside job. In a memo leaked to The Register it appears the company is prepared to offer a reward of 1000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

It's also alleged that one of the servers contained the credit details of thousands of customers, although this has been denied by WH Smith Online.

A spokeswoman for the e-stationers and newsagent said: "It is true that there was a recent break in.

"There has been absolutely no breach of customer information, credit card details or confidentiality.

"The occurrence is currently under police investigation and as you can understand to say anything further would be inappropriate," she said.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire Police said no one had been arrested in connection with the theft. ®