MAJOR retailer Marks and Spencer yesterday announced it will move out of Newport city centre and into a bigger store at Newport Retail Park.

Around 30 new jobs will be created and the 70 staff currently employed at the chain’s Commercial Road store will be able to transfer to the new Spytty store, when it opens in early 2012.

Marks and Spencer is the latest in a line of high street chains to announce a move out of Newport city centre.

Last week we reported clothes stores Next and Monsoon will both close their Newport stores before January 2011 and the news comes just days after proposals to close the city’s passport office were revealed.

A spokesman for Marks and Spencer said: "The new store will be significantly bigger than the existing store and offer an increased range of Marks and Spencer products and services."

The chain said it could not at this stage confirm which unit it will move into at the retail park, located off Spytty Road.

Lee Johnsey, of Johnsey Estates, said his company was not in negotiations with Marks and Spencer over the former Megabowl site at the park.

He said: "Last week we received our notice of planning consent from Newport City Council for the creation of a food supermarket at Megabowl and we are actively progressing this new use for the site."

News of Marks and Spencer's move out of the city centre sparked concerns among members of Newport Chamber of Trade, who say the current store brings a lot of customers into the city centre.

Kevin Tovey, who manages CL Jeffries Jewellers in Skinner Street, said traders had been dealt "two big blows at once", with the news following last Friday’s announcement about the Passport Office.

"There are so many major retailers leaving the city centre and Marks and Spencer brings a lot of people into Newport," he said.

"This is really a death nail."