NORTH-EAST pubs group Pubmaster vowed to battle on last night, after yet another rebuff in its bid for Wolverhampton and Dudley Brewery (W&DB).

The Hartlepool group said fewer than one in 20 shareholders had accepted its £450m offer for the company.

Bosses have been forced to further extend the deadline to next Thursday.

Last night it was looking increasingly likely that Pubmaster would have to up its offer - or walk away.

Shareholders had been given until Thursday afternoon to vote on the deal, although that has been pushed back to 3pm, next Thursday.

Under takeover rules, shareholders have a maximum of 60 days - in Pubmaster's case until August 13 - to either approve or reject the bid.

But the bidder is able to set its own deadlines within the 60-day framework.

So far, Pubmaster said it had received 4.88 per cent of acceptances from shareholders, although a spokesman said it was common for institutional investors to wait until later in the takeover period.

"Shareholders are sitting back and assessing the situation," he said. "We are not worried."

Pubmaster, through its subsidiary Silverhoney, launched its hostile bid for W&DB, which brews Pedigree ale and Harp Irish lager, on June 4.

The offer, which gives W&DB a value of £453.4m, has been dismissed by W&DB chairman David Thompson as trying to buy the firm "on the cheap".

If the takeover bid is successful, it is widely believed that Pubmaster, which owns 2,000 pubs but has no brewing interests, would most likely dispose of the W&D brewing operations.

It is not yet known what effect this would have on Hartlepool's Cameron's brewery, which is owned by W&DB.

Camerons is due to be taken over by Castle Eden Brewery, of Peterlee, County Durham, but this is conditional on planning permission being granted for houses to be built on the Castle Eden site.

If permission is refused, the deal could be called off, leaving the future of both breweries in the balance.