WEYMOUTH'S retail and leisure complex Brewers Quay is up for sale again - less than a year after it last changed hands.

Owner Spirit Group, which owns more than 2,400 pubs in the UK, has put the Hope Square attraction on the market claiming it is outside its core pub retailing activity.

The company bought the site from Scottish & Newcastle last November, and says it will continue to run the Excise House pub under a separate agreement.

It is believed the asking price will be in the region of £3 million.

Director of property at Spirit Group David Kemp has assured tenants they will be disturbed as little as possible by the sale.

He said: "This is a unique and interesting visitor attraction that sadly falls outside our core business plan to be the UK's number one managed pub operator.

"Once a new buyer has been found, we will work with them to ensure a smooth transition."

The building has been sold four times in the past 19 years.

It was a main brewing facility for Devenish Ales until it closed.

In 1988 the site was redeveloped as a tourist attraction following a partnership between the brewer and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, before being sold to Greenalls Inns in 1993.

Six years later, Scottish & Newcastle took control of the site, which comprises 100,000 square feet of floor space over 2.5 acres.

It currently houses 20 businesses and Weymouth Museum, employing a total of 90 people.

Brewers Quay managing director Roger Dalton informed tenants yesterday about the sale, but was unavailable for comment.

Sarah Bolt, who runs Pauline's Patchworks with mum Pauline, said the news was not a surprise.

She said: "We have been here 11 years and the transfers have not caused us a problem so far.

"At the moment we are not worried, and commercially things are fine at the centre."

But another store manager, who did not want to be named, said Brewers Quay needed more customers.

She said: "It's a good place, but needs more people inside.

"I am moving my business out into the town this year."