Two County Durham Papa Johns branches are set to close, as the takeaway pizza business has announced 43 UK restaurants will be shutting in total.

It comes as Papa Johns said earlier this year that it planned to shut a raft of “underperforming” restaurants after launching a review.

But on Tuesday (March 26), Papa Johns International announced it will close some restaurants by mid-May following a consultation process.

The company has not confirmed how many staff will be impacted by closures.

Papa Johns set to close 2 County Durham restaurants

Darlington and Durham are among the locations that will be closing within the next two months.

Further afield, the Middlesbrough location will also shut, as well as Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

You can see the full list of Papa Johns closures in the UK here.

Chris Phylactou, managing director at Papa Johns UK, said: “Our priority is our team members, who will be fully supported throughout this process.

“Our goal is to work with impacted team members and attempt to find redeployment opportunities where available.

“We understand the impact this will have on our team members and are committed to supporting them during this time.”

Papa Johns said it plans to increase investment in research and technology, such as better utilising customer data, as part of its UK strategy.

It also said it will look at the development of new types of sites beyond traditional restaurants, such as expanding into holiday parks, and is set to “announce other large retail partners in the coming months”.

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Mr Phylactou added: “While this is a difficult decision, closing these underperforming locations will give us the opportunity to invest back into the right locations with the right partners for long-term growth.

“We are focused on driving shared profitable growth across our UK restaurants, by continuing to make improvements to our business to ensure that we are well positioned for the future.

“We have been encouraged by the results so far from these initiatives.”