By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

PARIS – TD Banknorth is closing its Paris branch and consolidating customer accounts there with its Oxford branch.

The closing will happen at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.

Julie McQuillan, a TD Banknorth vice president and manager for public affairs, said no employees will lose their jobs as a result of the closure. Some will be transferred to the Oxford branch, she said, and others will likely be put to work elsewhere.

She said the bank leases the Paris property. It’s in the town’s commercial center.

The Oxford branch will see its hours extended from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and 5 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. Saturday hours will be 7:30 a.m. to noon.

McQuillan said the branch closing is “a business decision.”

After a review “of all of our branches,” she said, “it made sense” to consolidate the Paris and Oxford offices.

Oxford, she added, is more a retail hub than Paris and, as a result, the location would be more convenient for more people.

Bank customers who have accounts at the Paris branch don’t need to do anything in connection with the closure. The bank will transfer those accounts automatically.

Customers with safe deposit boxes at the Paris branch will be told by mail of the steps that will be taken to move boxes and their contents to the Oxford branch.

TD Banknorth is the corporate entity that evolved from Toronto Dominion Bank’s merger with Banknorth, which operated banks in Maine under the Peoples Heritage name until earlier this year.