A PAYDAY loan company, which claimed it wanted to create more than 100 North-East jobs, has pulled out of the region, axing a number of posts, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Latvian firm 4finance Limited is moving its UK headquarters from Thornaby, near Stockton, to London.

Its offices will close next month, leaving more than 30 workers jobs at risk.

It is understood the company is leaving the region, which is a recognised hotspot for people using payday lenders, in an attempt to strengthen its senior management team and make it easier for Latvian-based executives to commute to the UK, after struggling with direct flights through North-East airports.

Earlier this year, the company unveiled plans to employ 60 North-East workers by the end of this year and expand that workforce to more than 100 staff next year.

The Northern Echo now understands 4finance, which trades as Vivus, has told staff they can keep their jobs if they move to the capital.

One worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said bosses had told staff nothing, and feel the company has used the North-East as a stepping stone to move to the South.

They said: “A huge emphasis was made on targeting the North-East, and the company has benefited from that.

“But it is now dumping all of its employees and moving to the wealthy South.

“All of the staff have worked really hard, and this is just devastating.

“We have been given no explanation for what will be another huge blow for the North-East.”

In July, The Northern Echo backed a campaign, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, to tackle payday lenders by offering free advertising to every credit union in the North-East.

The region is known for attracting payday lenders, with a report from debt charity Step Change saying 21 per cent of its clients in the area had loans, owing about £1,600 each.

4finance operates a fee-free nought per cent loan for new customers, but thereafter introduces stiffer charges, with anyone borrowing £700 having to repay £875 at 1,410 per cent APR.

A spokeswoman confirmed it was leaving the North-East, and said its UK managing director, Tom Newbould, who was behind its regional expansion proposals, had left his position in August.

She said: “Staff were told yesterday that there was a risk of redundancy, and have been offered the chance to go to London.

“The last working day will be December 7.”

Mr Newbould previously said the firm was different to other short-term loan companies, and wanted to be loved by its customers.

The company has grown rapidly since it was set up by four student friends in Riga, in Latvia, in 2008, and now employs about 550 staff providing more that two million loans to more than one million customers across Europe and the US.