MARKS and Spencer stores in Dartford and Gravesend have been spared the axe in cuts announced by the high street giant.

M&S said this morning that it plans to close 25 of its Simply Food stores and a further two of its smaller stores as part of cutbacks, which would mean the loss of 780 jobs.

But Dartford's Simply Food Store, in Prospect Place, which only opened in December 2007, and Gravesend's M&S store, in New Road, do not make it onto the list.