JAPANESE company Sanyo is stepping up efforts to sell its mothballed North-East factory.

The site, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has remained empty since microwave oven production ended last year with the loss of 284 jobs.

It was hoped that a deal with the Isle of Man holding company, Charter House Trading, could be struck, but this fell through last month.

The County Durham Development Corporation, which is acting on behalf of Sanyo, has now enlisted the help of Newcastle based property specialists Lamb and Edge in an attempt to find a buyer.

Lamb and Edge, which is re-marketing the site, says the commercial market is in a lull period but it expects an improvement from September.

It has been instructed that the nine-acre complex, which was originally placed on the market for £2m, could be split and sold to more than one buyer.

It consists of an assembly area, fabrication unit and greenfield development land of just over an acre.

Workers at Aycliffe completed their final shifts last November, although a handful of staff have been kept on in a temporary basis until the site is sold.

Had the deal with Charter House Trading gone through the site would have been used for the manufacture of pre-fabricated units.

Stewart Watkins, head of business support at the County Durham Development Corporation, said: "The quicker the site is moved on to another occupier, the quicker that new jobs can be created.

"It is a prime site in good condition and is being actively marketed."

The Aycliffe site was bought by Sanyo in 1988 and closed at the same time as its sister complex in Thornaby, which was engaged in microwave component manufacture.

Sanyo says that more than 95 per cent of its former staff have found work in new jobs since the closures last year.