BELOVED retailer Toys R Us looks set to return to Poole in a smaller form five years after disappearing from the UK.

Planning documents suggest Toys R Us will take up residency within the existing WHSmith store in Falkland Square as part of a reported national introduction of store-in-store concessions.

It has been reported nationally that Toys R Us has signed an exclusive sub-licence agreement with WHSmith to trial nine Toys R Us stores in the UK, scheduled to open in the first half of 2023.

An application submitted to BCP Council by WHSmith shows plans for Toys R Us signage to be placed over an entire window at the site, which also houses a Post Office branch.

Bournemouth Echo: Proposed signage for Toys R Us within WHSmith store in Poole.Proposed signage for Toys R Us within WHSmith store in Poole. (Image: Butterfield Group)

The sign reads ‘Toys R Us. Now open in store!’ alongside the image of long-time company mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe

Toys R Us first launched in 1985 and became the first children’s toy supermarket in the world but, by 2017, went into bankruptcy after reaching debts of more than £3.5 billion.

A large store at the Nuffield Industrial Estate in Poole closed in April 2018 after the toy chain collapsed. The site has since become a Smyths Toys superstore.

WHSmith was unable to provide a comment on the plans, however, said communications on its relationship with Toys R Us would be forthcoming.