AN optician's is investing £250,000 on a store expansion which will treble its size.

An extra four jobs have also been created as a result of the revamp at Specsavers in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

The project will create space for two more testing rooms, a new waiting area, disabled facilities on the ground floor, extra office space and state of the art testing equipment.

As well as the four new dispensing staff already taken on at the store it is hoped further jobs will be created in the new year when the expansion is completed.

Directors Timothy Mitchison and Sean Hayes said that they bought the empty unit above the store to meet growing demand in the town. Mr Mitchison said: "The business has been growing steadily over the years so it seemed a natural progression to snap up the empty unit above us.

"The expansion and new jobs are a sign of our commitment both to the town and our thousand of customers who live in the area.''

The work will be completed on December 16.