A PETITION has been launched to save the iconic sign outside a York newsagents and toy shop when it closes down next month.

York resident Jo Coles said she had been very saddened to read in The Press that London News & Toy in Heworth was to shut after more than a century of trading.

Jo, who is seeking to become Labour's candidate for the York Central seat at the General Election, said that as a child growing up in Heworth, London's had been the place she went to spend her birthday or Christmas money.

"When I was 13, Derek London gave me my first job as a paper girl," she said. "Over the years, the shop gave thousands of young people like me a start.

"The shop is a cornerstone of the area and its signs are part of the fabric of the local community. They are iconic and I think, if at all possible, they should be preserved."

She added that her petition was just a small way for the local community to say what an important role the shop had played, and it was backed by her mother Brenda Martin, who still lives in Heworth, and her son Fynn Lundberg.

She said the petition, which can be found at www.change.org/p/york-museums-trust-preserve-the-londons-newsagents-signs, called on City of York Council and York Museums Trust to take steps to preserve the signs.

Alison Bodley, senior curator of history and archaeology at the trust, said the sign had not been formally offered to it by the owners and so the trust had not been in a position to preserve it.

"However, should the signs be offered to us then we would very seriously consider accepting them as they fall into our collecting policy for objects related to York.," she said.

"We would also want to record people's memories and stories about the shop, and find out if there are any other objects available relating to the history of the shop available."

A council spokeswoman said the building wasn’t listed and so replacement signs could be displayed without the authority's consent, albeit with certain nationally imposed conditions regarding size, content and illumination.

Shop owner Ian Simpson, who recently announced the shop will close for the last time on February 28, declined to comment on the petition.