A derelict cafe has failed to sell at auction despite a £400,000 price cut - casting doubt over proposals to transform it into a block of flats.

The former Western Undercliff greasy spoon in Ramsgate, which comes with planning permission to be redeveloped, went under the hammer last month.

Although given a guide price of £775,000, the seafront property remains up for grabs.

It comes less than four months after a £1.2 million price tag was put on the site.

Eye-catching proposals for a six-storey building, with 13 flats, public toilets and a ground floor cafe at the site was given the green light by Thanet District Council (TDC) in December last year.

The building has remained empty since 2014 after a burst water pipe put the beach café business out of action - leaving the stretch of seafront without any amenities.

Previously, up until the 1980s, the beachfront had huts, chalets and other facilities, but these were demolished in 1995 to make way for an access road to the port.

Despite a community campaign to save, restore and re-open the cafe, the council sold the site at auction in 2018.

TDC came under fire earlier this year after it emerged the authority had sold the site for just £100,000 – with the subsequent buyer trying to sell it for six times as much within three years.

Cllr John Worrow, who represents Thanet Independents on TDC, told KentOnline: “It looks like the council of the day let it go for a song and developers have cashed in.

“It was always likely to be a residential development, which the council twice granted, causing the site value to rocket.

“We have a duty to get the best value for taxpayers and clearly that hasn’t been the case here, with developers enjoying the proceeds instead.”

Plans were submitted in September 2020 by the new owners of the building, Western Undercliff Ltd, to rebuild the cafe and add eight flats as well as a roof-top restaurant.

The development was given the green light later that year but disputes between the proposed developer and the council saw the scheme abandoned within two months of it being approved.

In 2021, the company then sold the site for £600,000, to Custom Build Developments.

But instead of pressing ahead with the redevelopment, the site remains derelict and vandalised.

KentOnline has attempted to contact Custom Build Developments through auctioneers Clive Emson but has not received any response from the company.