DEBENHAMS has unveiled plans to open two new department stores in the region creating 700 jobs.

The stores will be at the Gateshead MetroCentre and in Sunderland, with the firm also revealing it will be re-siting its York store, with the potential for more jobs there.

The Wearside store is expected to open this Autumn, with the MetroCentre branch opening in Spring 2003.

The announcement yesterday came as part of the groups massive expansion with the opening of 11 new stores nationally, creating 4,000 jobs over the next four years.

The expansion plan comes just weeks after one of the biggest names in High Street retail, C&A, revealed it was ending its 78 year association with the UK, with 245 jobs lost at branches in Darlington, Metrocentre, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and York.

C&A management said the decision was made in the face of fierce competition in the hard-pressed clothing industry.

Debenhams however revealed yesterday that like-for-like sales in the last 10 weeks were up 6.6 per cent on the previous year, driven by strong clothing sales.

It reported better figures for sales over the Internet and from home, with the group planning to double distribution of its Debenhams Direct home shopping catalogue to more than 300,000 this autumn.

Its Internet sales are expected to exceed £5m in the first full year of trading.

Finance director at Debenhams, Matthew Roberts, said the stores, each of which will be around 100,000 sq ft, marked a major expansion.

"This take us into areas where we have never been before," he said.

He added that Debenhams will take the local retail environment into account when planning each store, but they will essentially be similar to the existing Debenhams format.

Neil McShane, retail analyst at stockbrokers Brewer Dolphin, said the good figures were a result of the group's success in controlling costs.