Marks & Spencer, the high street retailer, will announce just under 1,000 job cuts from its stores and head office following its poorest Christmas trading period in years.

The cuts, which the company is expected to confirm tomorrow, will come as the retailer looks to reduce overheads as it enters one of the trickiest years in its recent history.

Sir Stuart Rose, M&S’s executive chairman, has already cut the chain’s capital expenditure budget and scaled back its store opening programme. The job cuts will be seen as confirmation that M&S sees no quick ending to the credit crisis and the massive downturn in spending that has hit the high street.

The Times, Daily Telegraph