MARKS & Spencer is opening two food shops on petrol forecourts this week as part of a trial with BP.

The Simply Food stores at BP Connect garages in Hammersmith, London, and Dumbarton, Scotland, are the first of eight pilot stores to move on to BP forecourts this autumn as M&S expands its food business.

The stores will operate alongside BP's Wild Bean Cafes and provide customers with a selected range of M&S products, including ready meals, sandwiches, wine, basic groceries, and flowers.

Announcing the deal in May, M&S chief executive Stuart Rose said the trial with BP was a great opportunity to investigate the potential for further expansion of Simply Food.

There are already eight Simply Food stores at Moto motorway service stations, such as Toddington on the M1, Reading on the M4 and Knutsford on the M6.

M&S will issue its a second-quarter trading update today, with City analysts and investors waiting to see whether the recent slump in sales has come to an end. Like-for-like sales fell 5.4 per cent in the 14 weeks to July 9, with the biggest falls in clothing and homeware.