TOP performing post offices in the region have been short-listed for awards in the search for the UK's best branches.

The post office in High Street, Stockton, is bidding for the main award in the best branch category.

Gilling West Post Office, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, and Toft Hill Post Office, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, are competing for the main award for rural branches.

Jubilee Fields Post Office, in Coronation Avenue, Shildon, County Durham, is aiming for the banking prize for rural offices, while Darlington's Harrowgate Hill Post Office is in contention for the chief executive officer's award in the category for town and city branches.

Each winning post office receives a plaque and £750 in vouchers, with the runner-up gaining £250 of vouchers.

Regional winners, to be announced later this month, will go forward to the national finals in October.

Matt Silcock, chairman of the regional judging panel, said: "These awards are an opportunity for customers to tell us which branches are the very best. It is also an opportunity for us to reward the people who give that bit more and make their Post Office branch a great place for customers to visit."