YORK looks set for a major jobs boost after city planners backed a multi-million-pound expansion at Monks Cross Shopping Park.

About 100 full and part-time roles could be created under plans to add a new Carphone Warehouse shop, a restaurant, a café, fast food outlets, a pavilion, a piazza and a new play park, but 54 parking spaces at the centre would be lost.

The plans, first revealed in The Press in December, go before a council planning committee next week, and officials have advised councillors to approve them.

It would be the latest economic boost for the city, following a raft of setbacks.

The plans are to extend the western section of the centre, cutting the car park but creating an additional 1,161 square metres of retail space, some of which would be used by Carphone Warehouse.

The whole scheme would see the annual turnover of Monks Cross increase by more than £4 million.

Sources have told The Press the move would lead to about 100 new full and part-time jobs coming to the city. Initial plans were put on hold earlier this year because of concerns about the effect the expansion would have on nearby trees, but these have now been addressed. In its application, Indigo Planning, for the Monks Cross Shopping Park Trust, said it would also improve pedestrian links between the centre and nearby supermarkets.

Huntington Parish Council has objected to the application, saying it would have a “detrimental impact” on parking space at Monks Cross.

If approved, the Monks Cross jobs will follow the announcement of 180 new posts at the new Waitrose store, currently under development in Foss Islands Road, and 73 at a new Nespresso customer service centre at Nestlé.

Business leaders have repeatedly hailed the resilience of the city’s economy, which was hit earlier this year by 350 job losses at Jarvis and 100 at the printing firm Sessions of York.

The Monks Cross plans will be discussed by the council’s east area planning sub-committee next Wednesday.