A revival in York city centre's fortunes has been heralded after a survey ranked it as the ninth most sought-after city among retailers wanting to open new shops.

The survey of 50 towns and cities was carried out by Retail Focus and lists locations according to the demand for floor space both in the centre and on the outskirts of each town.

York rose in the rankings to ninth from 11th in 1997, jumping above Brighton and Sheffield.

York also came sixth this year in a list of the 25 most popular town and city centres, but came last in its list of the 25 most popular out-of-town locations.

The most popular overall location was Manchester and the most popular city centre was Oxford with "in-town" demand growing by 13.3 per cent in 1998.

News of York's revival comes as a £60 million scheme to extend the Coppergate Centre looks set to go ahead. Land Securities' planning application, which involves the construction of York's biggest department store on land between Clifford's Tower and Piccadilly, is currently out to public consultation prior to a decision by City of York Council.

Andrew Hedley, of Fulford retail agents Alan Black and Co, said the survey's findings were backed by evidence from agents in the city and showed a continuing revival of interest in city centre shops.

But he said the city's only problem was the difficulty in meeting floorspace requirements.

"Retailers often don't appreciate that the historic centre contains few units that are rectangular in shape with no internal obstructions," he said.

"Hence there is a real scarcity of units suitable for these major players but eventually they adapt when they appreciate the nature of properties in locations such as York."

He said Spurriergate and Coney Street remained the firm favourites and only time would tell if the new Piccadilly development could match their retail appeal.

Adam Sinclair, director of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "This is terrific news and is a clear elevation in York's status as a destination for retail occupants.

"Some years ago we came a lot further down and this just proves that York city centre is getting stronger.

"It shows that not only will the city survive, but it will get a lot stronger as we go into the Millennium unlike a lot of town and city centres across the country.

"It also sounds as if the proposed out-of-town developments at York are a lot less popular than the city centre.

"That doesn't surprise me because the historic centre is York's unique attraction.

"What would be good for the city would be if we could attract a House of Fraser or a John Lewis."

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