A HUGE new toy shop is to open on the outskirts of York in just under three weeks.

Smyths, which has 70 shops across the UK and Ireland, is moving into the old Comet building at Clifton Moor, just yards from rival chain Toys R Us.

It will also be next to Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre outlet contained there, Posters at the site say the new shop will open on June 20.

York Press:

Images submitted with the Smyths planning application

The company is awaiting planning permission from City of York Council for its signs, but no objections have been raised.

The store will be the company’s sixth in Yorkshire and Humberside, with branches already in Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Barnsley and Grimsby.

Nobody from the Smyths media department was available at the weekend, but on its website the company describes itself as a “leading provider of children’s entertainment products”.

It says its goal is “provide consumers with an extensive range of high quality products at competitive prices.”

It says it offers the “largest range of toys, bikes and video games at the lowest prices”, catering for children of all ages.

The building, at Unit 2 in Hurricane Way, has been empty since Comet closed in December 2012, after the chain collapsed financially, becoming one of the biggest high-street casualties of the economic crisis.

Comet employed 27 people in the Clifton Moor branch at the time it closed, although Smyths has not yet said how many people it will employ when it moves in.

In a separate application, designers on behalf of the owners of Clifton Moor want to replace the various signs around the site, listing the different businesses on the business park, with new smarter versions.

The city council is currently considering that application.