Mystery surrounds the sudden closure of a 140-year-old social club in a town centre.

The Conservative Club in Spital Street, Dartford shut ahead of the general election with a notice appearing on the door saying “this club has now closed”.

Upcoming events had been previously listed on the club’s website up until December but the site has since been taken down.

The last post on its social media page adds: “Good evening, the club would like to inform members that due to advice from the club’s legal team, we were advised to keep correspondence to a bare minimum.

“There are internal issues which are confidential and once rectified we will be in a position to update you further.”

A spokesperson for the club declined to comment when approached by KentOnline.

The club was founded in 1884 on the “Old Bank House” site on the High Street and became a place for “working-class supporters of the Conservative Party” to meet and socialise in Dartford.

It outgrew these premises and relocated to its current site opposite the Methodist Church in Spital Street in 1934, taking over a property that had previously been a private residence.

The club’s premises were expanded in the 1970s to add a ballroom and the club hosts political meetings, darts and snooker competitions, birthday parties, wedding receptions and nights out for its members.

Numerous senior political figures have visited the club including Margaret Thatcher who visited regularly when she was the Parliamentary candidate in Dartford in the early 1950s and also returned for the club’s centenary in 1984.

Edward Heath, who was born and educated in Thanet, also visited the club while he was Prime Minister and MP for Bexley in 1973.

Dartford Conservative Club and Dartford Conservative Association are two separate organisations.