Bradford-based Yorkshire Building Society has agreed terms for a merger with the Norwich & Peterborough, it announced today.

The proposed move, which will add 46 branches and nearly 500,000 members to YBS, will be voted on by N&P members in July. No payments will be made to members of either society.

If approved, the merger will create an organisation with assets of nearly £34 billion and three million members.

The move will give YBS branches in East Anglia, where has currently has little presence. The N&P name will be retained for local operations and YBS has promised to keep a significant operations centre in the N&P's Peterborough base.

N&P was recently fined £1.4m by the Financial Services Authority for mis-selling Keydata investment products and has been ordered to set aside £51m for compensation payments. A YBS spokesman said this had been factored into its merger bid.

The deal is part of the Yorkshire's declared aim to expand through mergers. It recently swallowed up the Chelsea and Barnsley societies.