Marks & Spencer has announced plans to axe 7,000 job roles over the next three months. 

Job losses will include redundancies in their stores across the UK, in their central support centre and in regional management. 

The retailer revealed the coronavirus pandemic has led to a "material shift in trade" as customers move towards online shopping and home delivery. 

M&S has stores in Argyle Street, Sauchiehall Street, Byres Road and at major Glasgow shopping centres such as Silverburn and Glasgow Fort.

But a spokesman said they would not be breaking down the announced job losses by store or country at this time.

It is expected the majority of the job losses will be attributed to voluntary redundancy and early retirement.

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Union leaders called the announcement a "devastating blow" for the M&S staff. 

National officer for the shopworkers' trade union Usdaw Dave Gill added that it "yet another bombshell for our high streets". 

He said: "

The Government has a clear choice; do they want to see the high street go to the wall, or do they want to help save it?

“What the retail sector needs now is a tripartite approach of the Government, unions and employers working together to develop a much needed retail recovery plan.

"We have long called for an industrial strategy for retail to help a sector that was already struggling before the Coronavirus emergency. Now the situation is much worse.

“Usdaw has thousands of members working for Marks and Spencer and the staff now, more than ever, need the representation and support of an independent trade union; an experienced and knowledgeable union interrogating the company's business case for these job losses.

“We again urge M&S management to abandon their long-held resistance to allowing Usdaw to represent the staff. It is simply unjust that the company has made the decision not to engage with a trade union. The staff are telling us they want Usdaw to represent them, it should be their choice.”

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A statement by M&S said it was "too early to predict with precision where a new post-Covid sales mix will settle. We must now act to reflect this change".

Chief executive Steve Rowe said the changes reflect efforts to create a "more agile business in a world in which some customer habits were changed forever". 

He added: "These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs and we are committed to supporting colleagues through this time."