Retailers including Marks & Spencer, Clinton Cards and Dixons have taken much longer to pay their suppliers over the last year.

Alexon, Games Workshop, Halfords and Next also took longer to pay creditors according to analysis conducted by The Daily Telegraph.

The paper reported 15 of the 26 retailers surveyed increased the amount of time before payment with nine decreasing the number of payment days.

Morrisons, Ocado, Sports Direct, Carpetright and Home Retail Group were among the list of retailers which paid up faster.

M&S trade creditor days rose 44% to 26 and Clinton Cards rose 49% from 59 to 88 days. Ted Baker took the longest time to pay, increasing from 34 days last year to 52 this year.

An M&S spokesman said: “We have very competitive payment terms and work hard with suppliers to ensure we help them with their cash flow and credit facilities.”

Sports Direct recorded the biggest improvement at 38% while Asos, JJB Sports and Moss Bros all paid suppliers faster than last year.