BRADFORD looks set to miss out as Darlington has emerged as the most likely location for the Treasury's new base in the North.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, will be deciding this weekend on where to place a new Treasury campus in the north of England, which is a central part of the Government’s plan to decentralise the civil service.

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It is understood that the chancellor is under pressure from colleagues to opt for the railway town of Darlington on Teesside, which is one of the areas that the Tories had won from Labour in the 2019 election.

It is also understood that Tees Valley has long been the favourite to host the new northern hub as Baroness Simone Finn, Downing Street's chief of staff, had said recently that it was the "obvious" choice.