Department store House of Fraser has announced massive expansion plans which will mean more than 1,000 new jobs.

The company said it planned to open new stores in the City of London, Norwich, and High Wycombe over the next four years.

It is also moving its store at Maidstone in Kent to a new site and buying Bentall's store in Bristol for £15.6 million.

The news came as House of Fraser reported encouraging sales figures which it said were up 9.5 per cent in the first six weeks of the second half - but losses had widened in the first half.

Over six months, the company lost £6.6 million compared with £4.4 million in losses during the same period in 1999.

£3.5 million was written off due to disruption caused by major refurbishments of its flagship Oxford Street store in central London and its store at Guildford in Surrey.

Total sales rose to £364.5 million from £351.1 million and the group maintained an interim dividend of 1.7p.

But Chief Executive John Coleman was confident about the chain's future prospects.

He said: "We have driven significant sales and market share growth in the first half, building on our position as Britain's leading retailer of designer brands.

"We have continued this growth into the second half of the year ... driven by our supply chain initiatives and by our continual product innovation.

"Our Oxford Street and Guildford stores are being enlarged and refurbished to compete with the best in the country.

"These, along with the refurbishments of key trading floors in our Manchester and Cardiff flagship stores, will be re-launched ahead of the Christmas trading season."

Related links House of Fraser website