HOPES are growing that a half-finished North-East hotel complex may find a saviour.

An agent hoping to sell the development at Teesside Airport has received "significant interest" in the site.

The complex was put up for sale by the Mirage Hotel and Leisure group, last month.

Planning permission for a 120-bedroom hotel and a 80,000sq ft health club was granted three years ago.

But delays associated with the development of the airport, plus problems with the sewerage system, led the firm to pull the plug last month.

A spokesman for the company said: "The major shareholders of Mirage have decided, due to long delays and problems associated with the development of Teesside Airport, that they are to sell their shares in the company.

"They do not now feel that they have the resources to continue until the remaining difficulties that have prevented them from progressing are resolved."

The site was put up for sale by Mirage, with the sale being handled by Leeds estate agents Colliers Conrad Ritblat and Erdman (CCRE).

Andrew Watt, director of CCRE, said yesterday: "We have already received considerable interest over the month of August in the site.

"Inquiries have been made from a range of sources, both local and regional, and we are quite optimistic that a sale will be achieved."

Developers had been seeking a solution to the problem of an inadequate sewerage system at the airport, which had been holding up the work.

If it goes ahead, the development would provide a timely boost for the region.

The complex was being built to coincide with the south side development at the airport.

But the £340m development, which would have made the airport one of the biggest freight-handling centres in Europe, has faced difficulties of its own.

In May, the scheme was branded "unrealistic" by airport managers, who admitted it was unlikely to go ahead on such an ambitious scale.

As a result of the freight village blow, the airport has now been placed at the heart of a £26m economic regeneration of the Tees Valley.

A £6m partnership between the airport, development agency One NorthEast and the Tees Valley Partnership was announced as part of a package of measures.