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Oldham residents trying to log into council or government websites this week have been met with a blunt refusal: the page simply states, "We can't sign you in." The reason given is that the visitor's web browser is blocking the small text files known as cookies.

Without these cookies, the system cannot tell whether someone has already entered a password, so it treats every click as a fresh, unverified request. The result is that online tasks such as ordering a new bus pass, viewing a council-tax account, or booking a bulky-waste collection stall at the first step.

The message is not tied to a single site. It appears on any local or national service that shares the government's secure-sign-on platform, meaning the disruption can hit planning forms, Blue Badge renewals, and school-admission appeals alike.

Fixing the block takes less than a minute, but it requires people to open their browser settings and allow cookies for the affected domain. The on-screen prompt directs users to the browser's own help pages, so the exact route differs between Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox.

Digital-access officers at the council say they have taken more calls about login failures in the past three days than in the whole of January. They stress that no data breach has occurred; the block is a setting on the user's own device, not a fault with the town hall servers.