NORTH-EAST pubs group Pubmaster has suffered another rebuff in its £450m battle for Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries.

The Hartlepool-based group announced that it was extending the deadline on its offer last night because fewer than one in ten shareholders had accepted.

The offer, which has been vigorously opposed by the board of W&D, was due to run out on Thursday.

But by the closing deadline of 3pm, only 9.8 per cent of Wolves' shareholders had given the nod to the 480p per share offer.

Pubmaster has therefore extended the closing date on its offer to 3pm next Thursday.

If the offer still isn't taken up by shareholders Pubmaster may have to come back with a more generous bid or walk away.

W&D believes the deal seriously undervalues its business.

If the takeover bid is successful, industry sources believe 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 will have on Hartlepool's Camerons brewery, which is owned by W&DB.

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

If planning permission is refused, the deal for Castle Eden to buy Camerons could be called off, leaving the future of both breweries in the balance.

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

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

Under the rules governing takeovers, shareholders are given a maximum of 60 days from the date they receive the offer document - in Pubmaster's case June 15 - to either approve or reject the bid.

If the bidder does not have enough support for the deal by then, the offer is dismissed.

A spokesman said the new extension gave Pubmaster ''more flexibility'' though he would not be drawn on whether the pub operator would up its offer or not.

But he said that the tactic of extending deadlines during hostile bids was common: "It is a game the bidders play with the shareholders because shareholders know it is likely to go for the full 60 days, so why would they want to act now?

"The shareholders will want to sit back and assess the situation.

"Perhaps someone else is going to come along with a higher offer, or perhaps Pubmaster is going to put in a higher offer.''