FAILED wedding venue Caverswall Castle is up for sale for at least £2.5 million – but dozens of couples left out of pocket by its closure may still never see a penny of their money.

Caverswall Castle Limited, the company behind the 13th century building, went into liquidation in March after being refused retrospective planning permission to hold weddings at the venue.

The business failed leaving 133 creditors a total of £940,690 out of pocket.

Of those, 78 were couples who had between them paid deposits totalling £517,446 to get married at the venue over the next two years at an average of £6,633.

Now the 20-acre property – which boasts a library, billiard room and old dungeon – has been put up for sale by the Shrewsbury branch of national estate agent Strutt & Parker.

And prospective buyers are already showing an interest in the property owned by businessman Robin MacDonald.

Strutt & Parker negotiator Claire Hall said: "We've had a fair amount of inquiries regarding the property since it went up for sale.

"The owner has instructed us to sell it as a residential property, so that is what we are looking to do.

"It's a beautiful building and we're looking for offers in excess of £2.5 million.

"We feel that is a realistic asking price for what is on offer."

It is not known how long any sale could take to go through.

But Festival Park-based accountant Moore Stephens, which was appointed as the castle's liquidator, has warned creditors that the sale of the property does not necessarily mean they will get their money back.

Neil Dingley, a partner at the firm, said if the property was sold tomorrow, then theoretically the money would belong to Mr MacDonald, the castle's owner and director.

But he added: "The castle director's affairs are separate from the liquidation of the company.

"The sale of the property would not fall within the dealings of the limited company which we are in the process of dealing with."

Mr MacDonald had been at the centre of a long-running planning row with Staffordshire Moorlands District Council after the authority refused him retrospective permission in 2009 to use the venue for weddings.

The 40-year-old, who bought the castle for £2 million in April 2007, then appealed to a planning inspector only to lose that fight in December 2009.

Mr MacDonald has always blamed the council's planning department for the collapse of the business.

Engaged couple Elizabeth Delaney and Matthew Basden, of Birmingham, were due to get married at the castle this month after paying £9,015.

They have since received £5,800 of their money back through their wedding insurance and are getting married in Shrewsbury on May 17.

Elizabeth, aged 26, said: "The insurance company originally told us they weren't going to pay out because they said we must have known about the problems with planning permission when we booked the venue.

"We're happy that we've got some of the money back, but we both work in bars so £3,000 is more money than we can afford to lose.

"It's good that the castle is up for sale but it could take two or three years before there is a buyer so there's a long way to go." Mr MacDonald was unavailable for comment.