THE Yorkshire and Britannia Building Societies have signed a deal which means their total of four million members will have the use of a total of 322 branches.

The branch sharing agreement between the country's second and third-largest building societies means their members will be able to pay into or withdraw money free of charge from savings and mortgage accounts using each others' networks.

Bosses say the deal is not the prelude to large-scale branch closures, adding the Yorkshire has 80 branches in towns and districts where its new partner is not present, while the Britannia has 135 branches where the Yorkshire is not represented.

Work has already started on developing the computer systems necessary to make the system work, and society bosses expect the sharing agreement to take effect in early 2001.

The Yorkshire Building Society has branches in Feasegate, York; Gowthorpe, Selby; Cambridge Crescent, Harrogate; and High Street, Knaresborough.

Chief executive David Anderson said: "Yorkshire and Britannia are both committed to offering their members the best-possible service, and sharing our branch network is a practical way of enhancing the benefits we offer."

He added the two societies shared a common philosophy that being mutual allowed them to offer better value and service to customers, and hoped other mutual societies might join them in sharing branches in the future.

The Britannia is Britain's second-biggest building society with 2.2 million members, 190 branches and £14 billion in assets, while Yorkshire is third with 1.8 million members, 132 branches and £10 billion in assets.