Marks & Spencer has ditched its glamorous TV ad campaign featuring female celebrities including Myleene Klass, Twiggy and Dannii Minogue, it is understood.

The Mail on Sunday linked the decision to M&S wanting to appeal to its core customer base – middle-aged women.

TV presenter Lisa Snowdon, singer VV Brown and Brazilian model Ana Beatriz Barros were part of the line up. Sources said Twiggy and Snowdon would continue to work for M&S but would only feature on billboards and in-store promotions, rather than TV ads.

Former footballer Jamie Rednapp will also be retained for the menswear campaign.

The newspaper reported that customers found the most recent campaign to feature the celebrities – aired in April and featuring a bikini-clad Snowdon in a speed boat – to be at odds with the retailer’s older customer base.

The ‘M&S girls’ were the brain child of Sir Stuart Rose and marketing director Steven Sharp, and were credited with helping to turn around the fortunes for the retailer in 2004.