Marks & Spencer is to axe dozens of jobs after deciding to scale back its store expansion and refurbishment plans.

The retailer is in consultation with its store design and development and property teams on proposed redundancies.

The scaling back of Marks & Spencer’s capital expenditure programme was announced in the retailer’s second quarter trading update at the beginning of this month.

At the update, chief executive Stuart Rose revealed a like-for-like sales fall of 6.1 per cent during the period and that capital expenditure would be slashed from£900 million this year to£700 million.

Three-quarters of the positions in the store design and development team will be cut, according to sources.

The total number of job cuts are unknown but according to reports, it is believed to be “in the significant double figures” but below 100.

A spokeswoman said: “We review our team structures all the time so that we can flex them according to the business and economic climate.”