Mystery surrounds the lack of progress on a huge seafront development site that has sat abandoned for months.

Bosses behind the controversial Leas Pavilion scheme in Folkestone said in April how rumours it will not be completed were “completely untrue” and confirmed construction was “due to recommence”.

But four months on, work is yet to restart and residents are again questioning whether the luxury 91-flat project will ever be completed.

Since demolition of the pavilion in 2022, only groundworks and the erection of two towering stair cores have been completed by developer Gustavia as part of the project on the clifftop promenade.

Bosses previously said their scheme was the best hope of preserving the Grade II-listed building, with the front elevation undergoing careful reconstruction away from the site before being set to return as part of the completed development.

But visitors to the town say they are shocked by the current state of the plot.

Jean Hill, 78, from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, regularly visits Folkestone and says the site is in quite a state.

“It was a bit of a shock to me at first," she said.

“I think they should be building more affordable housing and accommodation for everyday people at an affordable price to rent."

Friend Kathleen Hargreaves, 75, believes residents are right to be concerned over the lack of work.

“It worries me greatly that work has stopped," she said.

"We have a similar situation in Wakefield at the moment. They’ve built loads of new houses and then built the framework for a new supermarket in 2020, but it’s still just a metal frame.

“It seems these developers move in but don’t think about the community."

The pavilion was originally built in 1902 as an Edwardian tea room and was later home to the popular Leas Club nightspot.

Eventually, the nine-storey project is set to feature plush sea-view apartments looming over The Leas – ranging in price from £325,000 for the smallest one-bedroom flats to £3 million for the significantly larger penthouses.

But Gustavia said in April how work had been on hold while a new sprinkler tank was installed in the basement of the building.

“We have been made aware and were very surprised by rumours that work on Leas Pavilion has stopped and the project will not continue,” a spokesman said at the time.

“We can categorically state this is untrue.

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“Work has been progressing at a slower pace because of the requirement to install a sprinkler tank below ground before the reinstatement of the pavilion structural frame.”

KentOnline has attempted to contact Gustavia and Mercurius Consulting, a business consultancy involved in the scheme, including eight emails and two phone calls in the last three weeks.