MARKS and Spencer has confirmed it is to close its Barton Square store at the Trafford Centre.

The M&S home store is part of Trafford Centres 'hidden gem' that provides collection of homeware stores including Next HOME and HomeSense.

Barton Square is also home to family attractions, Legoland Discovery Centre and Sea Life.

The retail giant has confirmed that all members of staff from the store will transfer to the main sore inside intu Trafford Centre.

An M&S spokesperson said: “The lease on our small home store in intu Trafford centre has come to an end. "We’re taking this opportunity to consolidate our offer into our large, main store in intu Trafford Centre and all colleagues will be moving over.

"The main store will continue to offer the people of Manchester and the surrounding areas the very best of M&S, now including a curated selection of Home products."

The closure comes ahead of a £74 million transformation of Barton Square which will see another 110,000 square feet of extra retail space including a new Primark store that will take place in the previous BHS Home store - set to open in 2019.

A spokesperson for the Trafford Centre said: “We’re disappointed to hear that M&S Home is closing. This is a commercial decision taken by M&S - the store within the main centre remains open.

“We’re always working hard to refresh our store line-up with new and exciting retailers to give our visitors the best possible shopping experience. There’s a lot going on at the centre over the next two years, including a £74 million redevelopment of Barton Square followed by the opening of Primark. These plans mean that we have a number of exciting new brands currently in negotiations to take their first stores within the centre.

“Our focus is on bringing the very best retailers into the area. With our plans for the redevelopment of Barton Square, we intend to do exactly that.”

The development will also include a new glass-domed roof and a fully redesigned interior.

Work is due to start next year.