A BANK has announced the closure of one of its branches in Darlington.

Halifax is to close its High Row branch and transfer business to its office in Northgate.

The firm says the decision to concentrate its operations at one branch will not effect customers and that all accounts will simply be transferred over.

The seven staff who work at High Row will keep their jobs and move to Northgate when the town centre branch closes on September 1.

A spokeswoman for Halifax said that the High Row branch formerly housed a branch of the Leeds Building Society, before Halifax took over the company.

She said the branch did not lend itself to expansion and the company believed it could offer a better service at the bigger Northgate site.

"We have written to all our customers and the change will not affect the way in which they can use their accounts," she said