HARTLEPOOL-based Camerons Brewery has bought the Eye of the Tyne pub on Newcastle Quayside.

The deal includes the purchase of the lease from Suffolk-based Greene King, plus the transfer of all staff, protecting all jobs at the site, Camerons said.

The outlet will continue to trade as normal.

Chris Soley, Camerons Brewery director and general manager, said: "We know what an important social hub the Quayside has always been for the people of Newcastle, and we have been chasing an outlet down there for some time. There are some really good operators on the Quayside, and I fully believe we can run the Eye on the Tyne to further enhance the consumer experience in this area. We inherit a really good team of people and are going to run the pub exactly as it is until we really understand what our customers want."

Camerons, based in Stockton Road, Hartlepool, wants to add 30 managed and 20 tenanted pubs to its portfolio by 2020.

Mr Soley, added: "Camerons is a really exciting place to be; our beer brands are growing at 40 per cent, despite the increased competition from the explosion of new breweries over the last decade.

"We have invested money in over 75 per cent of outlets in the last 18 months in order to improve our estate which has led to double digit growth in our leased & tenanted division and we’ve also just invested £1.5 million in a new state-of-the-art bottling line that will further develop our business."