Allen & Overy (A&O) is set to scale back the number of London training contracts it offers by 14% for those applying from this November.

The magic circle firm will take on 90 trainees per year from 2014 – down from the current figure of 105.

The drop, first reported on RollOnFriday earlier this morning (10 June), will affect graduates applying from November this year because of the long lead time between recruitment and joining the firm.

The move marks A&O's second reduction in graduate recruitment in two years, after the firm announced plans at the height of the financial crisis in 2009 to cut its trainee intake from 120 to 105 from 2011. The combined decrease equates to a 25% cut in graduate recruitment between the 2008 and 2011 application rounds.

The firm said that the decision to reduce the intake had come as a direct result of the slowdown in the London legal market and that it had increased recruitment rates elsewhere in its international network where it sees stronger growth.

A firm spokesperson said: "We continue to grow in London, but not at the significant rate we have experienced in the past. Our London recruitment needs to reflect this."

The news comes after the latest statistical report from the Law Society highlighted the oversupply of legal education places compared with the number of training contracts in the UK legal market. The number of training contract places available fell by 16% last year to 4,874, and by 23% from a 2007-08 peak of 6,303.