ESTATE agents Sanderson Young has closed its Ponteland office as part of a restructuring of the company.

Staff who worked at the office are now working at the company's regional branch in Gosforth.

Chairman Duncan Young described the move as a "positive step forward for the company".

He said: "Our local branch in Ponteland has been part of my career for the last 38 years and for many of those years it has been a very vibrant and busy day-to-day estate agency office.

"Sadly as the e-commerce of estate agencies has changed, the need for local offices has also altered with many clients preferring the ease of e-mails, text messages and social media to communicate their preferences and choices when moving home.

"The number of walk-ins to a local branch has dramatically reduced and hence the rationale of merging the working team in Ponteland into our regional branch in Gosforth where our Ponteland colleagues are now working."

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Mr Young said the regional branch is about to expand its operations with a new building and office next door to its existing one on Gosforth High Street.

This building will be known as the Sanderson Young New Homes Hub and will employ four to five people, double that of the Ponteland office, he added.

Mr Young said: "Sanderson Young this week took three new instructions to sell for clients in Ponteland and the Tyne Valley, all of whom understood the regional office strategy and for whom we very much look forward to moving in the near future."