FAMILY-owned garden centre business Peter Barratts is poised to open another two stores in North Yorkshire, The Northern Echo has learned.

The Team-Valley based business, which has centres in Gosforth, Tyneside, and Stockton-on-Tees, is planning to expand into the York, Harrogate and Leeds areas, and could create more than 100 jobs.

Peter Barratt and his wife, Angela, employ about 350 people, with 50 in their head office and warehouse and 300 across the two stores.

They said the next stores were unlikely to be as large as the current two, because of difficulties finding sites.

Mr Barratt said: "We have had to downgrade our expectations because we can't find a large enough site, so it will be a compact version of Peter Barratts.

"But if the location is right, it doesn't have to be on the same scale."

The two stores turned over more than £16m last year and the business is growing fast.

Mr Barratt said opening more stores would make the head office operations and the buying process more efficient.

He said he hoped to open at least two more stores, and the York and Harrogate areas were preferred sites.