The future of four south Essex pubs hangs in the balance after it was revealed they were being sold off by brewery giant Scottish and Newcastle.

The Castle Inn in Little Wakering Road, Little Wakering, the Sutton Arms in Southchurch Road, Southend, the Joker in Laindon and the Owl and the Pussycat in Clay Hill Road, Vange, are just four of 361 Scottish and Newcastle pubs being sold across the country.

Britain's biggest brewer, is selling the pubs to the North of England based Pub Estate Company for £100 million, as part of the company's compliance with an Office of Fair Trading competition ruling following its takeover of Greenalls' pubs and restaurants last year.

The Office of Fair Trading ordered Scottish and Newcastle to off-load some of its outlets to obtain regulatory approval for the £1.1 billion Greenalls' deal.

The sale will bring the brewery's number of pubs into line with the Office of Fair Trading's demands and allow it to concentrate on its managed pubs and brewing businesses.

However the sell-off has concerned Jan Hills, landlady of the Castle in Little Wakering.

She said: "It won't really affect me at the moment but I don't know what will happen when my lease is up in two years time. This is a village pub which relies on local trade so I suppose it could close."

A Scottish and Newcastle spokesman confirmed today four of its pubs in the south Essex area had been sold.

Other pubs in the area owned by the company include the popular Britannia along Southend seafront, the Paul Pry in Rayleigh and the Hoy and Helmet in Benfleet.

Scottish and Newcastle is set to become the Europe's second largest brewer behind Heineken after agreeing a £1.7m take-over of Danone's brewing interests in France, Italy and Belgium.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.