A Darlington shopping development has been sold as part of a massive £126.6m property deal.

The Darlington Retail Park is one of four developments to be bought from retail warehouse specialist developer Grantchester Holdings by Coal Pension Properties Limited (CPPL).

The retail park, comprising nine units covering 139,000 sq. ft, was valued at £30.8m in March this year.

It currently houses retail names including Currys, Comet, DFS, Conroys, Pets at Home, Harveys and Carpetright.

Nick Hewson, chairman and chief executive of Grantchester said the tenancies would remain unchanged, meaning jobs are safe.

And hundreds of new jobs could be created on the site as it is developed by its new owners.

Grantchester has already agreed to build another 16,000 sq ft of units on the site, on behalf of CPPL.

Tenants are already believed to be waiting in the wings.

Other properties included in the deal are Leeds Road Retail Park in Huddersfield; Meols Cop Retail Park, Southport and Ivybridge Retail Park, Twickenham

Together the four properties cost a total of £87.3m and cover 534,000 sq. ft. They were valued in March at £129.8m and the current rental income is £7.5m.

Grantchester may receive a further £16.5m in respect of the value of extensions to the properties at Huddersfield, Darlington and Southport which Grantchester has agreed to complete at its own cost.

Grantchester plans to use the proceeds from the disposal to repay borrowings, reinvest in the Group's development programme and new opportunities.

Nick Hewson, Chairman and Chief Executive of Grantchester said: "These disposals demonstrate the continuing strong demand from the institutional market for quality retail warehouse property.