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Salad leaves which last up to five days longer than the average have gone on sale at Marks and Spencer stores across the country. The salads have all been vertically farmed which, according to M&S, offers a series of benefits - from reduced water during the farming stage to increased freshness for consumers.

Andrew Clappen, director of technical for M&S Food, said: "The future of food is about finding new and innovative methods which put less pressure on the environment while delivering the best in market flavour and quality. These Collection salads are vertically grown exclusively for M&S and bring new flavours to our customers with a dramatically reduced water consumption - supporting our Plan A goal to reach net zero by 2040 across our supply chain."

The Citrus Sorrel Baby Leaves, Spicy Baby Leaves and Baby Garlic Kale are available only in M&S Food stores.

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There are 310 M&S Food outlets across the country.

The salad leaves, which do not need to be washed before eating, are grown indoors where temperature, light and water are optimised to create consistent growing conditions yearround.

M&S said "advanced robotics" plant the seeds, with growing substrate used instead of soil to direct the exact nutrients needed to grow the "perfect leaf".

UV lights are also used to provide ideal growing conditions for the food.

The process supports more sustainable agriculture using 96% less water and eliminating the need for pesticides, M&S said.

Fertiliser use is reduced by approximately 97%, it added.

As the leaves are grown in a controlled environment and harvested without soil, they can be "pickedat the optimal moment for consistent quality and flavour and packedwithin 60 seconds of harvest."

"This results in salads that stay fresher for up to five days longer than an average bag of salad, helping customers prolong the life of their food and reduce household waste," M&S said.

M&S last year launched a five-year commitment to help deliver more sustainable food production.

The programme, which is in parallel to the new vertical farming salad leaves, sees M&S work with conventional farmers to adopt regenerative practices to improve soil health and enhance biodiversity.