Marks and Spencer today announced it was cutting more than 1,200 jobs.

The confirmation of the jobs cuts came as the company announced a lareg Christmas sales slump today.

In figures released this morning the company said UK like-for-like sales fell 7.1% in the 13 weeks to December 27.

The announcement of the job cuts is a big blow to the hundreds of Marks and Spencer workers across the south.

The firm has large stores across the region including WestQuay in Southampton and one in Hedge End.

In the statment M and S said it planned to cut up to 1,230 jobs through store closures and head office reductions.

It has also added that 780 staff would lose their jobs when it closes 25 Simply Food stores and two normal shops.

As many as 450 staff will also go at the companies head office.

The cost-saving drive also involves changes to M and S's final salary pension scheme - by capping employees' annual increases in pensionable pay - and altering early retirement benefits for those who joined the scheme before 1996.

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M&S hopes to cut costs by up to £200 million through the moves.

Executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose said: ''We are aware that the proposed changes set out above will be difficult for those members of staff impacted, but, given that we expect challenging economic conditions to continue for at least the next 12 months, we believe we are taking the right action to maintain the strength of our business.''

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The cuts came as M and S said UK like-for-like food sales fell 5.2% over the period, while general merchandise - which includes clothing - was down 8.9%.

Union leaders expressed shock at the scale of the job cuts and called for urgent talks with M&S to discuss the redundancies.

John Gorle, national officer of Usdaw, said: ''We want to talk to the company to get an understanding of the business case that has underpinned this decision.

''We are shocked at the severity of the cuts and we were not anticipating store closures. Our members will now be extremely worried.

''The company does not formally recognise trade unions but I hope they will meet with us to have a meaningful dialogue.''

There were rumours that some workers could be laid off quickly but Mr Gorle said he would find it hard to understand why M&S needed to take such swift action.

He added that more than 35,000 jobs had been lost in the retail sector since November.