Demolition of former Toys r Us building in Peterborough begins ahead of new Iceland and Home Bargains stores opening

The store is to become an Iceland Food Warehouse and Home Bargains outlet after the demise of the former retailer which went into administration in February 2018.

Fourteen months later the derelict store was ravaged by a huge blaze.

Shortly before the fire Home Bargains had submitted its own plans for a discount shop at the premises off Bourges Boulevard, with a deal later agreed for Iceland to move in as well, creating dozens of new jobs.

Iceland’s Food Warehouses are bigger than its traditional stores and allow customers to buy products in bulk.

They have only been operating since 2014, although more than 100 are now open including one at Ortongate Shopping Centre.

Iceland also has smaller stores in Rivergate, Lincoln Road (Millfield) and the Bretton Centre.

The chain told the Peterborough Telegraph last year it planned to open its new store in the late spring or early summer of 2020.

However, that has now been pushed back to the autumn.

A spokesman said: “The developer has begun undertaking a substantial remodelling of the Toys R Us building and we hope to open a Food Warehouse store there this autumn. This will be our second Food Warehouse store in Peterborough.”

Home Bargains is the trading name of TJ Morris which owns the freehold of the former Toys R Us store.

The company has previously declined to state when its new store will open.

It currently has no outlet in Peterborough, with the nearest one situated in Corby.

The fire at Toys R Us started late on Monday, April 22 with police forced to close the road for several hours while firefighters from 12 different stations tackled the flames.

No-one was hut in the incident, but the flames and smoke could be seen for miles across the city.

A Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue spokesperson said there was no evidence the blaze had been started deliberately.