TALKS on the future of a former engineering factory are still ongoing - a year after plans for a multi-million pound development on the site were scrapped.

Proposals to create a £6m JJB Soccerdome complex at the former Cummins Engines factory in Yarm Road, Darlington, were abandoned in March 2004.

And 12 months on, developers High Point Estates admit that they are still no closer to finding a tenant for the 40,000sq ft site.

Last May, The Northern Echo revealed that the company were talking to a leisure firm with a view to them building on the site.

But spokesman Mark Warrior said: "We are still talking to a company - but not necessarily the same one.

"We are always in negotiations - we have space to let and we have to be proactive.

"But at the moment, there's not a lot to say."

The original plans were shelved when Darlington Borough Council told High Point that the proposed TJ Hughes superstore included in the application went against Government policy on out-of-town development.

Therefore, any new idea would not be able to include a retail outlet, leading the developers to approach potential investors with that in mind.

Mr Warrior said: "We are trying to establish how the site could be used, rather than just who could take it over."

With Cummins holding the lease for a further five years, the future of the site remains uncertain, but Mr Warrior remains hopeful.

"Something will happen eventually," he insisted.