THE future of the famous Castle Eden brewery still hangs in the balance after developers missed the deadline to submit their plans for the County Durham site.

Persimmon Homes had until yesterday to submit detailed plans for their proposed housing development at Castle Eden, near Peterlee.

As the deadline passed, negotiations continued between the developers and planners.

It is now believed the application for planning permission and demolition of the brewery will be submitted before the end of the month.

If the plan is not accepted, the deal for Castle Eden to buy Hartlepool's Camerons brewery could be called off.

Castle Eden is hoping to use the money from the sale of its Peterlee site to Persimmon to fund the takeover, which would secure more than 100 jobs and the future of brewing in Hartlepool.

Yesterday, Castle Eden spokesman Dave Picken said: "If planning permission is not granted, there could be problems for the deal with Camerons.

"Waiting three weeks for the application to be submitted to make sure it is right is not a problem, provided it is accepted at the end of it."

Easington District Council will have the final say on the application - currently there is no provision for housing on the site in the area's local plan.

David Jenkinson, director of Persimmon Homes, remains optimistic.

He said: "Following discussions with the council we will hope to be in a position to submit an application within three weeks.

"We have had initial conversations with the council and are confident we will get planning permission."

It is believed part of the Castle Eden site is a listed building.