Yorkshire Bank is to close one of Bradford's oldest branches and sell the landmark building.

Over the next three months the bank is to close its North Parade branch - one of the original Yorkshire Penny Bank branches.

The bank's personal and business customers will use the Broadway branch when the building closes.

Yorkshire Bank, which has its headquarters in Leeds, is to refurbish the Broadway branch as part of the re-organisation of its business in Bradford.

The company was bought by the National Australia Bank, which also owns banks in Scotland and Ireland, in 1991.

The merger is being phased over the next three to four months and a spokeswoman for the bank said today no date had been set for the branch closure.

She said: "No jobs will be lost with this merger as the bank has a number of other branches in Bradford and we are hoping to deploy staff from the North Parade branch to them. We do not give details of staff levels at branches for security reasons."

Nor could the bank give details of the number of customers served by the North Parade branch. She also said that closing the branch did not mean the Yorkshire Bank was no longer as committed to Bradford.

The bank has branches in Toller Lane, Queensbury, Great Horton, West Bowling, Laisterdyke and Idle.

It also has a regional business banking centre at its Broadway building which the spokesman said would be expanded as part of the re-organisation.

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