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Marks & Spencer has launched a legal challenge against Michael Gove鈥檚 landmark ruling to reject its plans to demolish and rebuild its flagship Oxford Street store.

The retailer said it was taking action because it believed the communities secretary had wrongly interpreted planning policy to 鈥渏ustify his rejection of our scheme on grounds of heritage and environmental concerns鈥�.

The redevelopment, designed by Pilbrow & Partners, was struck down by Gove last month following a high stakes public inquiry which became a cause c茅l猫bre for net zero and heritage issues, drawing in voices from across the built environment and beyond.

M&S boss Stuart Machin described the decision as 鈥渦tterly pathetic鈥� and said the firm had been left with no choice but to review its future position on the street.

The plans would have seen the demolition of three buildings currently occupied by M&S, including the 1929 Art Deco Orchard House, and the construction of a 10-storey replacement store and office block.

The case hinged on whether a full rebuild or a refurbishment of the existing store would be more sustainable, with the retailer arguing the greater energy efficiency of the new building would offset the embodied carbon emitted by a rebuild.

In a statement, M&S operations director Sacha Berendji said: 鈥淭oday we have launched a legal challenge against the government鈥檚 decision to reject our Marble Arch store proposal.

鈥淲e 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.

鈥淚t 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.鈥�

Save Britain鈥檚 Heritage, which led the case against M&S鈥� proposals in the public inquiry, responded that Gove had made the right decision.

The campaign group鈥檚 director Henrietta Billings said: 鈥淭his public inquiry raised highly significant national issues about the way we build, the wasteful demolition of perfectly good buildings and the future of our high streets.

鈥漁ur case generated widespread public support and media attention. Michael Gove made the right decision in dismissing the M&S demolition proposals and we hope that the Secretary of State and his department resolutely defend this case. 

鈥漌e are considering our next steps and have every intention of maintaining our position.鈥�

The launch of the legal bid comes a day after M&S returned to the FTSE 100 share index, four years after it dropped off the list. 

During the inquiry, the retailer argued that the new building would be in the top 1% of London鈥檚 buildings in terms of sustainability and would pay back the carbon lost by demolition within 11 years.

But Gove questioned the reliability of the retailer鈥檚 calculations, concluding a rebuild would emit 鈥渇ar more鈥� carbon than a refurbishment until the UK鈥檚 energy grid achieved net zero, a benchmark which is not set to be hit before 2035.

Machin described the decision as 鈥渘onsensical鈥� and claimed the scheme had been a 鈥渧ictim of politics and a wilful disregard of the facts鈥�.

Save Britain鈥檚 Heritage celebrated the refusal as a 鈥渕assive positive step鈥� for heritage and net zero.

M&S, which has occupied Orchard House and two attached buildings for nearly a century, had received approval from Westminster council in 2021 for the redevelopment.

The plans were later backed by London mayor Sadiq Khan but were called in by Gove last year.