A LEADING boutique women's wear chain will open this week in York - 13 months after its predecessor closed its doors.

Customers can shop in Mint Velvet, on Low Petergate, from tomorrow, after the chain moved into the former home of Coggles.

The women's clothing business already has 21 stores nationwide, including boutiques in Edinburgh, Harrogate and Cambridge, and has department store links to House of Fraser and John Lewis.

However, the two-storey York store will be the company’s largest yet, and create 12 jobs.

A spokeswoman for the brand said: "Starting at the humble beginnings of founder Liz Houghton’s kitchen table, Mint Velvet is now a much loved fashion brand for women who want a relaxed glamour take on the current trends, and is set to open a gorgeous new boutique in York’s Low Petergate on Thursday.

"Mint Velvet’s new York boutique is their 22nd two-storey store adding to their existing 80 plus concessions, in premium department stores, and thriving online business.

"Mint Velvet believe that fashion should be fun, that luxury should be affordable, and that looking gorgeous needn’t be difficult.

"So, they take the trends and relax them creating seasonal collections for easy every day style that women can simply slip on and feel effortlessly chic in."

The new store will fill a gap on the street which has been vacant since June 2013 when Coggles Limited was acquired by online retailer, Hut Group.

The group purchased all stock and moved the business online, 39 years after the shop opened its premises, cutting 60 jobs, 20 of which were based in York.