FASHION giant Next is to move into a major empty unit at a Colchester retail park.

Scores of jobs will be created when Next opens at the former MFI store, at Tollgate, Stanway, in November.

If planning permission for a refit of the shopfront is successful, the 17,500 sq ft store will be more than twice the size of Next’s existing store in the town centre.

However, one trade leader said he feared the new store could take trade away from the town centre store, which is staying open.

Robert Leng, president of the Essex Chambers of Commerce, said while he welcomed the new employment, he had “reservations” about the precedent set by Next opening a store on the edge of town.

He said: “I’m delighted it will bring more jobs to Colchester, because certainly we need them, but I do have reservations about that type of store going into an out-of-town shopping centre.

“I just worry whether some of their town centre trade will actually move out of town.”

The store will be between the ScS furniture store and Comet, which sells electrical appliances. It will be the first clothing retailer at Tollgate.

Mr Leng added: “Furniture and large goods are ideal at the edge of town, as indeed are supermarkets, because people need transport to get to them.

“This is the first one, apart from a drive-in Boots, which you would normally expect in the town centre.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to see any more retail chains of that nature moving out there.”

Mr Leng’s fears were shared by Sue Lissimore, a Colchester councillor who has campaigned for a Primark to open in the town.

She said while it was good news for shoppers, it was not so good for the town centre, which needed the forthcoming Vineyard Gate shopping centre sooner rather than later.

Last month Next reported a growth in sales of 1.4 per cent at its 394 stores and online, and promised to open or move 30 stores this year.

MFI’s Tollgate branch closed shortly after opening, in October last year.

It was owned by a management team which stepped in after MFI went into administration in September, when another store in London Road closed.