RETAILER Marks & Spencer has angered Kirklees councillors – with a decision to close its Dewsbury store and open up in the White Rose Centre, near Leeds.

M&S said it would open the new 26,000sq ft store in late autumn in a move to create about 130 jobs.

All 27 employees at the Dewsbury store, which sells food and men’s and women’s clothing, have been offered jobs at the new outlet and so far half of them have said they want to make the move.

But Kirklees Council, which is spearheading a £150m scheme to redevelop Dewsbury town centre, said it was shocked and dismayed by the decision to close the Northgate store, which had provided "a valued and longstanding service to the town".

Kirklees deputy leader Clr Jim Dodds said: "It is more than an understatement to say that this is clearly very disappointing news, particularly at a time when some very exciting and innovative redevelopment plans are in the pipeline to transform Dewsbury as a commercial, shopping and business centre.

"We will be seeking an urgent meeting with the management of M&S to better understand their decision and to lobby to overturn it. M&S is a very important store for the town.’’

Clr Dodds said: "Their intention to pull out of Dewsbury acts against our regeneration objectives for Dewsbury. The timing is difficult to comprehend. M&S has loyally supported the people of Dewsbury for a long number of years, through thick and thin.

"To be contemplating closing their store and ending that association at a time when the town is on the brink of bursting into a new commercial era is difficult to understand and is something we need to discuss with them as a matter of urgency."

Commenting on the move, Paul Martland, M&S regional manager said: "Our Dewsbury team has been briefed and the news of the move was well received. In fact, many of the staff had already applied to relocate to White Rose, which will be both a great place to work and shop."

Mr Martland said: "We thought long and hard and considered all the options available to us before we decided to relocate our Dewsbury store to the White Rose Shopping Centre. It was not a decision that we took lightly but, as we want to create the best possible store for our local customers to shop in, we firmly believe that this is the best option.

"White Rose is a fantastic shopping centre and moving there will give us the opportunity to build a bigger, better store offering a wider range of M&S products and services with longer shopping hours. It will also allow us to create over 130 new jobs, which is a great boost for the area.

"We‘re all looking forward to the move and hope that our customers will be impressed with their new M&S when it opens later this year."

The new store will include wide range of fashion across womenswear, menswear and childrenswear, as well as a food hall with a bakery.

M&S said it was offering a wide range of full and part-time vacancies at the new store. Due to the store’s longer opening hours, M&S was able to offer more flexible working hours as well as a number of specialist jobs, including supervisory and managerial roles.

Elsewhere in West Yorkshire, M&S has stores at New Street and the Piazza in Huddersfield; Leeds city centre; Moortown, Crossgates and Guiseley near Leeds; and in Pudsey, Bradford and Wakefield.

Plans to regenerate Dewsbury town centre include refurbishing Victorian buildings to create apartments and shops; transforming the Westgate area to provide a shopping centre with gardens and a space-age glazed dome; building a new hotel, a department store and a Knowledge Centre with offices, library and meeting places on the southern end of the town.