Bosses behind a hugely controversial seafront development should have stuck with "far more subtle" designs unveiled eight years ago, say frustrated residents.

New artist's impressions showing how tower blocks at Folkestone harbour could look have been described as "heroically ugly" - with some even likening them to something out of The Flintstones.

But opponents say plans shown in 2015 were “much more in keeping with the area” than the latest images revealed at a public consultation last month.

Outline planning permission for Folkestone and Hythe Seafront Development Company’s (FHSDC) masterplan – led by philanthropist Sir Roger De Haan – was granted that year for between 720 and 1,000 homes between the Leas Lift and Harbour Arm.

Since then, the designs have changed considerably, and amended plans were approved in 2018.

Five years on, bosses are now consulting on detailed plans to build 600 homes, along with retail and leisure facilities, in the harbour area.

But in the last week, more attention has been paid to the old computer-generated images after a post was shared in the 'Legends of Folkestone' Facebook page.

Resident Georgina Baker, who has started a petition against the latest development, believes the original images were more appealing.

“The designs took much more consideration into the area around it,” she said.

“The buildings were more subtle and so distant from the designs we're seeing now.

“They still looked too high, but aesthetically it was definitely an improvement on what we are now being shown. They are so futuristic and out of place.”

When outline plans were first submitted for the area in September 2012, Trevor Minter, who was representing the developers, said the application had been the culmination of three years’ work.

“This outline plan is an important step towards realising a once-in-a-century opportunity to create a seafront of which Folkestone can be proud," he said.

“The challenges are enormous but we are determined to get the formula right, even if this takes time.”

At the time, bosses admitted the seafront and harbour site had been complicated to plan and would be expensive to develop, with the main hurdles including flood prevention and solving transport problems.

But Mark Hourahane, vice-chairman of the New Folkestone Society, thinks the earlier designs were “better” than what residents are being shown now.

He described the current concepts as “alien to Folkestone", saying the 2015 images “were rather more in keeping”.

"They do look a lot more broken up, so it would be much less dense than the latest designs,” he said.

“But even then perspective is being played with in these artists' impressions. The buildings would still be incredibly high.”

In comments posted on the 'Legends of Folkestone' Facebook page, residents expressed their “acceptance” of the old designs.

Simon Masters said: “This would have been perfectly acceptable, and I would actively support such a scheme,” while Carol Boughton added: “What a shame they didn’t stick to this. It looks beautiful.”

Others suggested they felt “deceived” when looking back at the previous drawings, with one saying the original plans looked "far more subtle".

Graham Adams said: “[It’s] funny how that changed from low density and relatively easy on the eye to what the latest plans are now.”

The outline planning permission granted in 2015 – which stretches between the Leas Lift in the west to the lighthouse in the east – was for between 720 and 1,000 new homes, plus 10,000 sq m of leisure, hospitality and retail space.

The first stage was the construction of the Shoreline Crescent flats on the seafront. They have now been built, featuring townhouses that start at £1.8m and could go as high as £3 million for a penthouse suite. People are expected to start moving in this month.

Sir Roger De Haan revealed that any prospective buyers will be banned from turning the properties into Airbnbs, which had been a major concern of locals.

But he admitted that even the lowest priced of the 84 new-builds – at £430,000 – will likely be too expensive for most Folkestone residents.

FHSDC is now presenting its detailed proposals for the harbour area, where the homes are expected to be more affordable.

Its current plans show how the towers would be built on the site of the current harbour arm car park, which is often completely full due to the attraction’s popularity.

But the appearance of ‘The Lookout’ blocks have particularly drawn criticism, with a number of people describing them as “something out of the Flintstones”.

“Welcome to bedrock,” one KentOnline reader said, with another adding: “Yabba dabba doo!”

A third went as far as to describe the overall aesthetic of the buildings as “heroically ugly”.

“The architect seems to have studied both Antoni Gaudi and Friedensreich Hundertwasser, while somehow managing to learn nothing from either,” they added.

Other unfavourable comparisons made online have so far included giant Jenga, termite mounds, wasp nests and even piles of poo.

Concerns have also been raised about the loss of parking spaces for the harbour arm, visited by two million people every year.

Despite the worries, the architect behind the images defended the plans in an interview with KentOnline last month and insisted his team “will not be going back to the drawing board”.

At a public consultation, Duarte Lobo Antunes said there “will definitely not be major changes to the designs” and he hopes “people will grow to like them”.

In a statement, a spokesman for FHSDC added the detailed designs are “aligned to design parameters set by the planning permission”.

"Our Folkestone harbour and seafront masterplan has outline planning permission and the harbour plots F, G and H are part of this permission," he said.

“We are developing detailed designs to address specific matters reserved by our outline planning permission and we are taking onboard feedback received through the consultation process.

“Several of the approved documents provide illustrations of how the scheme might look once the design is developed.

“These images are for illustrative purposes to demonstrate the scale and density of the development.

"Several historic applications were submitted for the Folkestone Harbour and seafront area and many included illustrations.

“The correct illustrations to refer to are those included within our 2018 amendment to the outline permission.

“This amendment was made after extensive public consultation. It updated the masterplan design guidelines and parameters to align with the Acme [a London-based architecture firm] masterplan."