Many commercial buildings in East Durham lie empty, with more than 600,700sq ft not in use, according to District of Easington Council.

Now it is putting together a masterplan in the hope business will find units they can use and in turn boost job numbers.

Peterlee's North West and South West estates and Seaview in Horden have been singled out as key areas.

The council says some property owners have also decided to keep on buildings as assets, rather than sell or modernise them, however, rules have changed which means they will now have to pay full rates after the first six months until they are occupied.

The council is commissioning consultants to look at the issue and has said it sees the vacant premises as an opportunity to exploit the area for investment and draw in companies.

It says most of the empty units are large, with 65 per cent of those vacant with a floor space of 30,000sq ft or more, and a suggestion has been made that demolition could make way for smaller buildings.

It has also said the North East Industrial Estate in Peterlee will be included in the masterplan if proposals to turn it into a housing estate do not materialise.

Work will begin this month with the brief put out to tender, and the council hopes it will be complete by March next year.