WH Smith is opening a branch in Wimbledon town centre less than six months after the closure of its store on Wimbledon Bridge.

The news comes just a week after bookstore Waterstones also announced it will be returning to Wimbledon following the closure of its branch on Wimbledon Bridge at the start of this year.

The new WH Smith will open in Centre Court shopping centre in late summer.

Unit 102, most recently used as a Miss Selfridge, which is moving into Debenhams as a concession store and unit 13, an empty unit which was once Build-A-Bear but most recently the AFC Wimbledon club shop, will house the new store.

Helen Clark Bell, Business Improvement District manager at Love Wimbledon, said: “We’re absolutely delighted WH Smith has come back to Wimbledon. We have received a lot of queries from people asking when they would return, and we’re very pleased they have found a new home at Centre Court.”

A spokeswoman from Love Wimbledon confirmed WH Smiths closed its store on Wimbledon Bridge due to the ending of its lease. She added a clause meant they were forced to leave, along with Waterstones.