The Levelling Up Secretary’s decision in early August went against the recommendation of his planning inspectors.

Plans for a new ten-storey steel and glass office complex on the site have been approved by Westminster City Council the GLA and planning inspector David Nicholson.

But Gove and his department disagreed with the planning experts after campaigners said the building should be refurbished because of the amount of embedded carbon it contains.

Sacha Berendji, Operations Director at M&S said: “Today we have launched a legal challenge against the government’s decision to reject our Marble Arch store proposal.

“We have done this because we believe the Secretary of State wrongly interpreted and applied planning policy, to justify his rejection of our scheme on grounds of heritage and environmental concerns.

“It is hugely disappointing that after two years of support and approvals at every stage, we have been forced to take legal action to overcome a misguided agenda against our scheme, and we will be challenging this to the fullest extent possible.”