MAJOR retailers in York have warned council bosses they will leave the city centre if there is not further investment in the area, the authority's development chief revealed.

Roy Templeman, City of York Council's director of environment and development services, said retail expansion was a "very serious piece of business".

Addressing the Without Walls Festival of Ideas debate, How Do We Keep York Special?, Mr Templeman said: "Major retailers have said they will not stay in York if we do not invest in the city centre. Imagine Marks & Spencer or Boots leaving?"

Speaking after the debate, which considered ways of ensuring York kept the individual characteristics that made it special, Mr Templeman declined to name any shops or stores.

But he said people should be in no doubt that concerns had been raised by "national retailers".

"We talk about Coppergate, but the fact is that the key to York is its excellent mix of retailers and if we lost multi-national retailers simply because the city centre was not attractive enough, what would that do to York?"

Today, some of York's major stores said they had no plans to relocate away from the city centre.

Graham Dickinson, manager of Debenhams, said: "We are down to move if, or when, the Coppergate development goes ahead. We have plans, but nothing is written in stone. We need a bigger store and we need to update the store but - as for leaving York - no."

A Boots spokesman said: "This is not something that I have heard. What we are talking about is extending opening hours and getting the public behind that."

At Woolworths, a spokeswoman said: "This is not the sort of threat that we would usually make."

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, said: "It's vital that there is retail investment in the city, but its crucial to get the balance right between high street names and independent shops.

"The York shopping product is very strong, but its also important to recognise that visitors enjoy shopping in York because of the environment, and we must do all we can to preserve this."

Updated: 11:03 Friday, June 27, 2003