SIX years after a developer was controversially selected as the preferred bidder to develop Elvaston Castle the plans have been delayed again.

Today marks the sixth anniversary of Derbyshire County Council's cabinet backing Highgate Sanctuary's plans for the popular tourist site.

The authority said it could not afford to repair and run the building and the firm wanted to develop it into a hotel with neighbouring golf course under a lease agreement.

The plans were already two years behind schedule when, in April, Highgate told the Derby Telegraph a planning application would be submitted this autumn.

Now the application has been delayed again until "early next year".

A campaign group battling the plans said the development should be called off and the castle reinstated as a tourist attraction.

Dr Tanya Spilsbury, High-gate's managing director, said the latest delay was down to negotiations between English Heritage and the county council taking longer than expected.

These involve a report into how much the castle and grounds will cost to repair.

The council yesterday revealed the cost would be about £6 million.

Dr Spilsbury said this sum had not put her firm off.

She said: "It will be two years after we put in the planning application before the hotel would be open. Our plans haven't changed."

A Friends of Elvaston Castle spokesman said he was disappointed to see that Highgate Sanctuary's bid was not being called into question after six years.

He said: "In our opinion there is no legitimate reason to turn Elvaston Castle Country Park into a hotel golfing complex and we will continue to do everything we can to prevent this from happening."

The Friends group have now put three videos on their website showing what they thought would happen if the developers were allowed to move in.

They said the plans would lead to reduced public access to the castle and gardens, the building of several new roads and the destruction of countryside to make way for the golf course.

They also claimed that the golf course would be built on land within the country park.

The spokesman said: "By highlighting those places on film we can show people exactly what is being proposed in their country park."

A council spokeswoman said public access to the park had "never been under threat".

She said there were "no current plans on the table in terms of where the golf course would go" as a planning application had not yet been submitted.

She said the English Heritage report would make it possible to see what size of development would be needed for the site to be "viable".

In Highgate Sanctuary's case, Dr Spilsbury said this could affect the number of rooms the hotel would need to turn a profit.

The council wants to see the castle and gardens leased to Highgate Sanctuary, which would then lease the gardens back to the authority.