PART of a North-East office complex housing the Government's National Savings agency is for sale.

But an assurance was given yesterday that the marketing of 28,500sq ft of office accommodation at Milburngate House, Durham City, will not signal the run-down of the National Savings and Investment (NS&I) operation in the city.

The refurbished offices, including one floor of the five-storey complex, have become surplus to requirement through space-saving measures carried out by Siemens Business Services (SBS), a partner organisation to NS&I at Milburngate House.

David Nicholson, of property agent Lambert Smith Hampton's Newcastle office, said SBS had made substantial investment in new technology, enabling it to occupy less space, despite serving more customers.

SBS employs 600 people at Milburngate House, the majority involved in the NS&I department.

A spokeswoman for NS&I confirmed the agency still had a commitment to Durham.

"There will be no reduction in our operation at Durham," she said.

The complex is already shared with the Passport Agency, which set up its first North-East office at Milburngate House, with a 400-strong workforce, in 2000.