A CHARITY is to close two of its Haltwhistle branches.

Save the Children is closing its charity and second-hand book shop on the town's Westgate.

The charity works to keep children safe, healthy and in education, ensuring every child has a future.

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The shops will both close on January 25 at 1pm. The charity shop opened in 2004 and the book shop followed in 2012.

Ian Matthews, director of retail and communities at Save the Children UK, said: "It has been a difficult decision to shut them, however across the sector, we face a constantly changing, and increasingly challenging retail landscape.

"At Save the Children, the priority has always been to make sure we are raising as much money as possible so that we can make a difference to children’s futures both in the UK and all over the world.

"Our shops play an important part in this, which means we are constantly reviewing our portfolio to make sure that every store is contributing towards this end goal.

"We recognise the enormous contribution our wonderful volunteers have made to Save the Children.

"The teams there have shown enormous passion and commitment to our cause and we would like to thank every one of them for everything that they have done over the years.”

Northumberland County Councillor Ian Hutchinson, who represents Haltwhistle at the authority, said he was sorry to see the shops closing and hoped that they would be taken on.

He added: "People in Haltwhistle are sorry it's closing; it's two empty shops in the town."