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BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. (AP) -- The Department of Motor Vehicles is permanently closing its Santee office.

The DMV says the office will close at the end of business Thursday.

The office near Lake Marion opened in January 2008 and has operated for two days a week. Officials say the employees who run that office will return full-time to their permanent assignments.

DMV Director Kevin Shwedo says research shows that when it's open, the Santee office processes less than 25 percent of transactions that other area offices process. He says closing it makes good fiscal sense.

The DMV suggests three other offices for customers, which are between 20 and 24 miles from Santee. They are in Orangeburg, St. Matthews and Manning. Customers can also process many transactions at www.scdmvonline.com.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)