LONDON (Reuters) - Littlewoods, one of the country's oldest retail brands, has launched a website for shoppers in France, Germany, Spain and Portugal, joining a growing trend of British online retailers expanding into continental Europe.

Lipsy bandeau dress at Littlewoods - Photo: www.littlewoods.com

Littlewoods, which is part of Shop Direct, Britain's biggest online and home shopping retailer, said on Thursday 27 August Littlewoodseurope.com was aimed at women and young families and would sell over 250 brands including Levi's, Puma and Nike.

It will focus on clothes, footwear, childrenswear, homewares and entertainment.

The website is currently in English, but Littlewoods said it planned to launch in local languages in the future.

The move mirrors steps by home shopping group N Brown, which has taken its large-sized clothes ranges to Germany, and online fashion retailer ASOS, which has reported strong demand from continental European countries.

Shop Direct, with annual sales of about 1.6 billion pounds, bought the brand name of collapsed sweets-to-DVDs retailer Woolworths earlier this year and relaunched it online in June.

The group also owns brands including Kays, Great Universal and Marshall Ward.

Littlewoods traces its roots back to 1923, when it started as a shopping catalogue company in Liverpool, northwest England.

(Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Rupert Winchester)