London, Feb. 14: Marks and Spencer (M&S) was accused yesterday of using “distorting” mirrors in its changing rooms to make women look slimmer when they try on clothes.

Robert Kilroy-Silk, a member of the European parliament, called for the mirrors to be withdrawn after his wife and daughter claimed that they were misleading.

The former chat show host said he had written to M&S’s chief executive, Stuart Rose, asking that the mirrors be withdrawn before they are outlawed later this year under new EU consumer protection rules.

M&S immediately denied the allegation, insisting its mirrors were “bog-standard”.

Nevertheless, the matter was elevated to the European parliament.

Kilroy-Silk raised the issue in a written question after his wife Jan and daughter Natasha said that mirrors in their local M&S stores in Windsor and Maidenhead were deliberately tilted or angled to make them look slimmer.

An M&S spokesman was mystified by Kilroy-Silk’s allegations. “The mirrors in our stores and changing rooms are perfectly normal, bog-standard, run-of-the-mill mirrors.

“We are at a loss as to what he might be referring to,” he said.

When The Daily Telegraph road-tested the claim, no slimming effect was detected.