VANDALS have forced a Darlington bank to close its 24-hour cashpoint service.

The lobby of the HSBC bank in Bondgate in the town centre has been targeted relentlessly by drunken thugs, leaving the branch with no option but to withdraw the service.

Branch manager Mr Geoff Ainsley said problems had started 18 months ago.

"It's on Monday mornings particularly," he said. "The place is trashed. Every Monday, it's a mess. There is rubbish all over, curries thrown about and various bottles left."

Initial warnings had gone up in the branch, informing vandals that their actions were being caught on camera.

"The CCTV is in operation and we have identified two of the people involved," said Mr Ainsley.

"Recently we have had more serious damage, and it's just got to a stage where we've had to call time. It costs the bank a couple of hundred pounds a time just to get the cleaners in, and that means everybody pays."

Customers will still be able to access the cash points in the lobby until 10.30pm, when it will close until 6.30am.

Mr Ainsley said he was saddened by the move: "I was very proud that we had been able to keep our lobby open when other branches had closed theirs. It is only in the last 12 to 18 months that it has got like this."

The HSBC branch in Cockerton has a cashpoint outside the building, which will remain open 24 hours a day.

"The closure is nothing to do with cost-cutting or cash machine charges," said Mr Ainsley. "This is about defending the premises."