M&S bacon, sausages and eggs to be 100pc British

Marks & Spencer said the announcement makes it the first retailer to offer 100 per cent British throughout its entire range of bacon, sausages and eggs.

The announcement forms part of M&S's 100 point eco-plan, Plan A, which was launched in 2007 and committed the retailer to source as much food as possible from the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Claire Hodgson, product developer at M&S, said: "Supporting British farmers has always been at the heart of our business, and we know how important buying British is to our customers.

"We are really proud that we can now offer our customers 100 per cent British across our entire range of our bacon, sausages and eggs – so now they really can enjoy the perfect great British breakfast"

The news was hailed by the National Farmers' Union livestock board chairman Alistair Mackintosh. He said: "This is fantastic news and shows confidence in what we produce is the best and that we can actually deliver it.

"It shows commitment to the British product. It reflects the attitude within the consumer that the British product is worth aspiring to, that it is the best and is worth that premium. I hope others will now follow suit."

The packaging across M&S's bacon and sausages will be clearly labelled with country of origin and the meat content on the front of pack. The firm also said it plans to remove printed labels from egg cartons in favour of printing directly on to the carton – a move bosses say will result in a six tonne paper saving per year.

The firm's move comes after many of the major supermarket chains began to make moves towards labelling their meat products more accurately to reflect where they have come from.