A WELL-KNOWN brewery, which closed more than ten years ago, is being given a fresh lease of life.

Castle Eden Brewery will open as a micro-brewery later this month, creating six jobs, after its new bosses secured a funding deal.

The original Castle Eden Brewery, in County Durham, was founded in 1826, producing beers including Castle Eden Ale, but closed in 2002 after suffering from changes in trading.

However, Cliff Walker and David Travers are bringing it back and are opening a site in Seaham, east Durham.

Mr Walker has bought the Castle Eden brands and intellectual property rights to the Castle Eden designs and recipes from AB In Bev, maker of Stella Artois and Boddingtons, which held them after the brewery’s closure.

A former sales director with the original Castle Eden Brewery, Mr Walker also worked at Cameron’s, Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, Courage, and Grand Metropolitan.

He said: “Castle Eden Brewery has long played an important role in the area, its products are high quality and we are delighted to be resurrecting it.”

The brewery is due to open at the end of this month, and Mr Walker said it will house a modern bottling line for its brands, while offering scope to carry out contract filling for other firms.

The company was helped by NatWest’s relationship manager, Ben Foster, who obtained a six-figure loan to help Lombard, its asset finance partner, provide funding for machinery.