HEALTH chiefs have vowed to press ahead with plans for a primary care centre for Seaham - even though they fear planned council involvement may fall by the wayside.

The Easington Primary Care Trust (PCT) wants to build the centre, which would offer GP services, clinics and possibly 24-hour treatment, for up to 40,000 people.

The trust had earmarked the rundown St John's Square as the site for the facility, and was hoping that Durham County Council would build its own multi-purpose centre, including a library, offices for Seaham Town Council and other community facilities, alongside it.

Officials at the trust say they may now have to look for another site, because they believe the council will not be able to part-fund the development in time.

Meanwhile, the council is understood to have scrapped its plans to redevelop Caroline House, which is on the site.

The redevelopment of St John's Square is seen as the final piece in the regeneration of the town centre, following the £18m shopping development in Byron Place.

A spokesman for the trust said: "It has gone quite a long way down the line, and we are waiting for confirmation of the county council's funding.

"If the outcome is negative, then it will be difficult for that St John's Square development to go ahead. Our understanding is that they are not going to proceed and that knocks it on the head."

The spokesman added: "We are looking for other sites in case the county council is not involved.

"St John's Square is our favoured site, but if it cannot be there, it will be at another site. The centre is a necessity for the town.''

A county council spokeswoman said: "We are totally bemused and bewildered about all this. We have never seen the development of Caroline House as a key part of the redevelopment - we have always talked about a multi-purpose development for the site.

"We do have timescale problems, because we came into this much later than the PCT, whose plans are much further advanced than ours. But throughout extensive meetings with our partners, we have always talked about a multi-purpose unit which, in our view, is still a potential."