A 140-year-old town centre social club which closed suddenly has been put on the market for £1 million.

The Conservative Club in Spital Street, Dartford, mysteriously shut a few months ago with a notice appearing on the door saying: “This club has now closed”.

In a statement, it added: “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 further when approached by KentOnline at the time.

It has not been confirmed why the social venue shut down, however, it has now been put on the market for £1,000,000 with commercial estate agents, Cobbs Property Services.

The listing states the freehold would be suitable for “occupation or for potential redevelopment for hotel, leisure, or residential” use, subject to planning approval.

The property, from 46 to 48 Spital Street, includes two lock-up shops, an entrance hall, a lounge area and bar, a kitchen, a ballroom for 200 guests and a cloakroom on the ground floor.

It also has further function rooms, offices and a snooker room on the first floor and a two-bedroom flat on the second floor.

Offers are being accepted for the 1,009sq m premises above £1,000,000.

The Conservative Club was founded in 1884 in 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 the present site opposite the Methodist Church in Spital Street in 1934, taking over a property that had previously been a private residence.

Numerous senior political figures have visited the club, including former Prime Minister 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.