FRESH jobs will be created when two new stores open on the Roman Way retail park in Malvern.

Boots the chemist and a store incorporating Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Burtons and Evans are due to move into units next to the newly-refurbished, two-storey Matalan in the early summer.

The town centre branches of Boots and Dorothy Perkins will remain.

Neither Boots nor Arcadia, which owns the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Burtons and Evans brands, were willing to say how many jobs are likely to be created or why they had chosen to open additional stores in Malvern.

The news has caused little concern to the town centre branches of the two stores.

Gulab Chauhan, manager of Boots the Church Street, said he did not think the new store would have a big impact on trade.

"I think it'll cater for a totally different clientele to us," he said,

"It'll be a bigger operation, with a lot to offer, but it won't be able to dispense NHS prescriptions.

"I'm obviously glad we'll remain here - the last thing we want is to have another retailer going out of the town centre."

Will Hale, manager of Dorothy Perkins, said: "As the new store has Burtons as well, it should take families down there, as opposed to up town, but because it's a small site and there are four brands under one roof, the selection is going to be less than we offer.

"It might hit our trade initially, but in the long term I'd imagine people will still come up town to us."

Town centre manager Anthony Collis said the growth of the retail park was a challenge the town centre would have to address.

He said: "There will be these things opening up and providing competition and we have got to develop the town centre to provide some different attractions."