UPDATE 1-JD Wetherspoon says investigating website hack

(Adds CEO's comments, background)

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - British pub chain JD Wetherspoon said on Friday it was taking action after discoveringthat a small number of its customer and staff details may havebeen accessed by a cyber attack.

The company said that it had informed all of its customersby email and planned to conduct a full forensic investigationinto the breach of security, which allowed some credit and debitcard details to be accessed.

Wetherspoon said the hacked information had been obtainedfrom its old website, which had already been replaced. Its newwebsite had no connection to the website that was breached.

"We apologise wholeheartedly to customers and staff who havebeen affected," said Chief Executive John Hutson said in astatement.

"Unfortunately, hacking is becoming more and moresophisticated and widespread. We are determined to respond tothis by increasing our efforts and investment in security andwill be doing everything possible to prevent a recurrence."

Cyber security has become an increasing concern forcompanies in Britain following a widely reported attack ontelecoms services provider TalkTalk's website earlierthis year which enabled the attackers to obtain some of thepersonal details of 157,000 customers.

There have also been several high profile cases of cyberattacks in North America including the leaking of details ofmillions of customers of infidelity website Ashley Madison,while Sony Corp's film studios were hit in November 2014. (Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

Wetherspoon (J.D)