Historic Repton Manor Barn has been sold to a mystery buyer.

The Grade II listed building on Ashford's Repton Manor estate was snapped up by an anonymous purchaser before it was due to be auctioned last week.

The barn, in Sir Bernard Paget Avenue, was bought for an unknown sum just before it was due to included in a Clive Emson property auction in Maidstone.

The freehold guide price for the 0.69-acre site was £350,000 to £360,000, but the auctioneers brokered a deal between the vendor and a mystery buyer prior to the sale.

A previous attempt for it to be sold at auction failed, when the site failed to meet the reserve price, which was then around £450,000.

It is not known exactly what the new owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, will do with the empty site but it comes with full planning permission for conversions.

The green light was given earlier this year to convert the historic “long barn” and the other former farm buildings into a restaurant or bar, coffee shop and eight retail units.

Auctioneer Kevin Gilbert said: “The complex includes the long barn, which is Grade II listed and is thought to date from the early 19th century – it is an exceptionally long and a magnificent architectural feature.”

The barn, which has been empty for many years, is on the former Templer and Rowcroft Barracks site, most of which has already being developed.

It sits just across the road from the Waitrose supermarket.

BTL Developments, based in Great Chart, secured the planning approvals after buying the site from Shepherd Neame early in the year.