Brewer Wolverhampton and Dudley is cutting 200 jobs as part of a restructuring programme which involves the sale of Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool to rival Castle Eden.

W and D is closing two distribution centres, in Burton on Trent and Wrexham.

The plans also involve the sale of 130 pubs and the closure of the firm's Mansfield brewery.

The company said it hoped the restructuring would generate more than £200m for shareholders.

The restructuring programme is further proof of the consolidation in the brewing sector.

There have already been numerous mergers and sell-offs over recent years because of the general overcapacity in the brewing sector.

Notable North-East mergers have included the £1bn deal between Sottish & Newcastle and Courage, which catapulted S&N to the top of the brewing league, and the sale of Vaux's brewing operations in Sunderland and Sheffield to concentrate on its Swallow Hotels.

That sell-off led to the disappearance of the Vaux name with it becoming known as the Swallow Group.

Basically the problem is that there are too many breweries in the country to justify the amount of beer actually being brewed.

W&DB had decided to implement plans to reorganise the business as part of a survival plan.

There has been continuing uncertainty over whether it would become the target for a bid.

The brewer has been the subject of bid speculation since last August, when private equity group Botts, working with leisure entrepreneur Robert Breare, said it was considering making an offer.

Botts and Pubmaster both confirmed their interest in the brewer last Friday, a second deadline Wolves had set for offers to be made.

Two breweries will remain in the streamlined group, the Pedigree brewery in Burton-on-Trent and the Banks brewery in Wolverhampton.

Wolves' chief executive Ralph Findlay said no jobs would be lost in Mansfield as it was hoped that those working in the brewery would be transferred to other parts of the business.

The brewer drew up its restructuring plans last autumn, but these were put on hold while Wolves held talks with potential buyers.

Mr Findlay said Wolves would remain in talks with the interested parties, but added that it was time to move on.

"This is a business that has been under review from one party or another since August last year," he said.

"Two deadlines have now been passed and there is still no certainty a bid will be made. We think it is in the shareholders' interests to see our plans to have something to compare to any future offer."

Mr Findlay said he hoped to return more than £200m in cash to Wolves' shareholders over the next two years through both the disposal programme and an increase in profits generated from the rest of the business.

Wolves intends to focus on the Midlands with a managed pub estate of 550 pubs and an enlarged tenanted estate of 1,050 pubs.

Those pubs being sold off include the trendy Pitcher & Piano chain, which has an operation on Newcastle Quayside, and Wolves' Varsity student outlets.

Mr Findlay said: "We will create a much more focused and simpler business, better able to extract greater returns from our core community estate, strong regional presence and our brands."

In a trading update issued alongside the restructuring announcement, Wolves reported a pre-tax profit of £30.7m before one-off costs in the six months to March 31, a 36 per cent increase.

Operating profit shot up 20.1 per cent to £50.8m