Marks and Spencer has apologised after advertising bras for teenage girls as being for “young things”.

       A poster on display in the lingerie section of one of the retailer’s outlets reads “first bras for fearless young things” alongside an image of two smiling teenage girls.

       Women’s rights campaigners have accused M&S of “dehumanising all young women” and of kowtowing to transgender ideology.

       The language was spotted by journalist Bev Turner who shared a picture of the poster on X on Friday afternoon.

       In a direct address to M&S, Ms Turner, a GB news presenter, wrote: “Your shop is a crucial part of British identity. You are important and you need to thrive.

       “But this sign dehumanises all young women at the very moment when they must not feel embarrassed or ashamed of their femininity.

       “We need to celebrate them becoming adult females – not erase them.”

       “It is not the job of our daughters to make confused boys in bras feel better about themselves. I’m truly shocked.”

       A spokesman for M&S confirmed it was taking the poster down and commented: “We’re sorry we got it wrong this time.”

       Helen Joyce, director of Sex Matters, the gender-critical charity, said M&S should “stop fretting about the unreasonable demands of trans activists”.

       She told The Telegraph: “It’s really incredible to see retailers bend over backwards to accommodate the feelings of a tiny number of men and boys who are unhappy about being male and want everyone else to pretend they are female.

       “Why are their feelings prioritised over the feelings of the half of the human race that actually is female?

       “M&S should wise up, stop fretting about the unreasonable demands of trans activists and unapologetically refocus on its main customer base: women and girls.”

       M&S has been approached for comment.

       The retailer has repeatedly defended its practice of allowing men who identify as women to use female changing rooms.

       In 2022, M&S said the measure was part of its policy to be an “inclusive retailer”.

       Two years prior, campaigners had written to chairman Archie Norman claiming the move put girls at risk of voyeurism.

       Emma Nicholson, a Liberal Democrat peer who advocates for single-sex spaces, warned that allowing anyone who says they are a woman to enter female changing areas puts women and girls at risk of being spied on and photographed by sexual predators.

       M&S responded that its fitting rooms were secure and private spaces, with lockable cubicles.