Future of Tetley's brewery in doubt

Leeds City Council has denied putting pressure on Carlsberg UK to vacate its historic Tetley brewery site in the centre of the city.

The council said it was conducting a review of the development requirements of the city centre and such a study included what might happen to the brewery location should Carlsberg want to vacate the 10 hectare site - equivalent to 100,000 square metres - at some point in the future.

"Tetleys is a very important part of the heritage of Leeds, but it's not for us to tell Carlsberg when to leave a site they've occupied for more than 180 years. However if they chose to do so we want to have an idea of what would replace it," said a Leeds City Council spokesman.

In a statement the brewery said it had been in talks with the council in recent weeks "in order to understand their preferred plans for the future development of the city".

According to Carlsberg, Leeds councillors argued that the area surrounding the brewery has changed significantly over recent years and believe that a manufacturing plant has become "somewhat out of place on the current site".

In a statement Carlsberg said: "We would like to underline the fact that no formal plans or decisions have been made. If any proposals are developed to change the current brewery structure, our employees and other key stakeholders will be the first to know."

Carlsberg's Leeds brewery operation employs around 200 people, with a further 600 staff employed at its Northampton facility.

It has been suggested in some quarters that Carlsberg might use the redevelopment proposals as an excuse to sell the site, believed to worth up to £100m, and consolidate its brewing activities in Northampton.