DEVELOPERS hoping to build a huge shopping complex on the edge of York have claimed two big-name stores are looking to move into the city centre.

Agents acting for Oakgate (Monks Cross) Ltd, which wants to build John Lewis and Marks & Spencer stores in a £90 million scheme also including a community stadium, have said House of Fraser and Primark are interested in finding sites in the heart of York.

House of Fraser has denied this, although Primark declined to comment on whether it was considering opening a York store. In a document submitted to City of York Council on Oakgate’s behalf, HOW Planning said they also understood Debenhams were searching for larger city-centre premises.

An outline planning application for the Monks Cross development is expected to be debated by the council next month.

Oakgate – which this week released the first images of the new stores – says 1,000 new jobs and 275 construction roles would be created and the retail scheme would boost York’s economy by £12 million a year.

Opponents of the proposals, including leading city-centre businesses, claim the out-of-town stores would have a devastating impact on their trade. The owners of the Coppergate Centre have said they would ditch their own redevelopment plans if Oakgate’s scheme and an expansion of Monks Cross Shopping Park went ahead.

In a letter to senior council planning officer Michael Jones, HOW Planning partner Richard Woodford said Oakgate refuted claims by opponents of the Monks Cross plans that their development would harm the city centre.

The letter says: “It is Oakgate’s position that there is sufficient expenditure capacity to support substantial improvements to both York’s in and out-of-centre retail offers over the short to medium-term.

“We note criticism that Oakgate’s development proposals ignore commercial considerations of demand in seeking to deliver large format units in an out-of-centre location. We would merely comment that Oakgate provided City of York Council with a schedule of retailer requirements in December, which indicated demand for circa 600,000sq ft of retail and leisure floorspace in York by various operators.

“This included requirements by Debenhams, House of Fraser and Primark for large format retail units of 60,000sq ft or more.”

A House of Fraser spokeswoman said the company was “not opening in the city-centre” but did not say whether it was looking at potential sites elsewhere in York, while Debenhams – which has stores in Davygate and at Monks Cross – declined to comment yesterday.