A TOY store chain will be opening a new branch at Basildon’s Eastgate Shopping Centre later this month.

The Entertainer has announced it will welcome its first customers on Saturday, February 27.

It is moving into a 3,000 sq ft unit, on the Galleries level, formerly occupied by the Eastgate Art Gallery.

The gallery, which had been occupying the unit rent-free since 2011, moved out in early January in preparation for the new store.

It has since found a new home at the site of the former Woolwich bank in Southernhay.

The Entertainer says it will create nine new jobs at the Basildon store, with extra seasonal staff being taken on at busy periods such as Christmas.

Shopping centre manager Ian Clark said: “The arrival of The Entertainer at Eastgate is great news.

“The new store is the perfect fit for Eastgate and the town of Basildon. It will bring an exciting new dimension to retail here, and it means new jobs will have been created in the centre, which is particularly welcome.”

The store will celebrate its grand opening with a special charity trolley dash undertaken by Little Havens Hospice.