Councillors have agreed the sale of more than 20 sites across Thanet, including Westgate Pavilion, can go ahead.

The proposals were discussed at an extraordinary cabinet meeting of Thanet District Council (TDC) on Tuesday.

Several councillors argued for buildings or plots of land in their wards to stay off the list.

Residents have reacted in fury, setting up a petition on Change.org which has attracted nearly 1,500 signatures.

One of the 600 plots which are up for consideration is farm land at North Foreland off of Callis Court Road, close to scenic Joss Bay.

Commenters on the petition included Susan Pettifar who wrote: "Disgusted how uninformed we are in Thanet.

"How can Thanet council get away with this, they cannot be allowed to build anything on or around our beautiful Joss Bay."

It was also revealed at the meeting that some landowners and leaseholders hadn't been informed of the proposed changes.

Council leader Cllr Chris Wells said at the meeting: "This is very much a stage where we listen to people's views on what they wish to say.

"I have to be quite clear that as a council we have one of the weakest financial positions since the 1980s and that is because, as we know, there were some very poor decisions taken before this administration."

Cllr Wells blamed the attempted sell-off on a lack of funding for the upkeep of the properties.

A public consultation, lasting 21 days, began after the meeting.