Top high street fashion store H&M is set to open in Shrewsbury’s former Woolworths store this autumn, it was announced today.

H&M has taken on the lease for the store in the Darwin Shopping Centre in Castle Street.

Hennes & Mauritz, as the Swedish fashion brand is also known, has stores in 34 countries and employs more than 73,000 people across the world.

Laura Maggs, spokeswoman for the firm, said: “We are taking on the former Woolworths store in Shrewsbury. We have just signed the lease and will be opening this autumn.”

She said she could not confirm an exact opening date, the size or number of levels of the new store, what collections it would stock or how many jobs the store would create, until nearer to the opening date.

Nicholas Pitt, manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled about the new store opening. It will be superb for employment and fantastic for Shrewsbury.”

Simon Airey, chairman of Shrewsbury Business Chamber, described it as a “real coup” for the town.

“It’s very good news for employment in the town and is a significant and large retail unit which will now be occupied,” he said.

The Woolworths store closed in December when the company went into liquidation after it became a victim of the recession. Hundreds lost their jobs including many in Shropshire.