THE retailer WHSmith has revealed the fate of its Darlington store after confirming the permanent closure of a branch in County Durham.

The chain said its store in the Cornmill Centre in the town centre would remain open with the retailer having "no current plans" to close the site.

It follows on from WHSmith this week confirming the closure of its store in Bishop Auckland town centre at the end of the month.

Confirming the closure to The Northern Echo, a spokesperson said the Newgate Street store would close to coincide with the expiry of its lease.

At the time, it did not confirm whether any jobs would be lost but suggested staff would be redeployed to other stores.

It means staff will likely be asked to relocate to the Cornmill Centre branch or Durham City branch.

A spokesperson for WHSmith said: "We can confirm that the WHSmith store in Bishop Auckland will close later this month when our lease expires.

"Unfortunately, we are unable to continue to trade viably from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry. 

"As one of the largest supporters of the UK high street, we are disappointed to be losing our presence in Bishop Auckland and we would like to thank all our customers for their support and for shopping with us.

"We are also extremely grateful for the commitment of our in store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible."

The Northern Echo:

When later asked whether the Darlington store would be affected, the spokesperson said: "I can confirm that we have no current plans to close our Darlington store."

The store reopened in October 2019 following the addition of Marks & Spencer Simply Food and the Post Office.