FASHION retailer Peacocks is set to open a store in Huddersfield.

The company said the new 5,000sq ft store would open in May.

A spokeswoman said the site would be confirmed nearer the time.

The store is expected to create between 10 and 20 full-time and part-time posts.

Peacocks is part of the Cardiff-based Peacock Group, which also owns women's clothing retailer Bonmarché. Bonmarché has its headquarters at Grange Moor and a store on New Street in Huddersfield town centre.

Peacocks' new Huddersfield store is one of 30 outlets planned to open this year.

The £21.5m expansion programme will also include new stores for Bradford and Leeds, as well as Manchester, Southampton and Cardiff.

The new stores will create more than 500 jobs.

The move follows a facelift for many of Peacocks' existing 470 stores, including introducing a new black and white logo.

Managing director Tim Bettley said Peacocks provided "the hottest fashion must-haves at the best prices on the high street".

He added: "These investment plans will further endorse that Peacocks is in vogue on every fashionable high street in Britain."

Mr Bettley said the retailer had got 2007 off to a brisk start, with strong demand for fashions ranging from baby doll dresses and leggings to parkas and 1960s-inspired dresses.

The Peacock Group was launched in 1884 and opened its first store in Warrington.

It floated on the Stock Exchange in 1999.

The group bought Bonmarché for £51m in 2002.