PART of the famous Castle Eden brewery site now earmarked for demolition could be protected as a listed building.

Bosses at the site, next to the A19 near Peterlee, bought rival Camerons in Hartlepool and are planning to shut the County Durham operation.

But the sale of the Hartlepool brewery is conditional on planning permission being granted for the site of the 175-year-old Castle Eden complex.

Britain's biggest housebuilder, Persimmon Homes, has bought the 13-acre site and is expected within the next ten days to put in a detailed planning application for some 100 executive homes to be built there.

But a spokeswoman at Easington District Council, which will determine the application, has revealed there are listed buildings at the historic brewery and part of the site is within a conservation area.

She said: "The council has received some basic sketches but we are awaiting a more detailed application and then the planning process can begin.

"Part of the site does have listed buildings on it and it includes a conservation area so we would have to see how the plans incorporated these areas."

The spokeswoman went onto say special permission would have to be sought if the builders wanted to demolish the listed parts of the site.

David Jenkinson, land director for Persimmon Homes North-East, would not be drawn on the details of the planning application or how the listed buildings would fit into the company's plans.

He said: "A planing application for a number of new homes will be submitted in a couple of weeks time which will propose a mix of two, three and four bedroom properties."

David Soley, managing director of Castle Eden, claimed at a press conference on Tuesday that both brewing companies and the developer were confident that planning permission would be granted and the merger of the two breweries could start within three months.

Once the planning application is received by the council, comments will be invited from local councillors and people living in the area who could object to the loss of the old brewery.

But Mr Soley said both Camerons and Castle Eden had faced closure, making the merger, with the loss of Castle Eden, the best option.

Updated: 18.00 Wednesday, April 25