A historic hotel could be painted dark grey, despite fears it would “stick out like a sore thumb” at a coastal beauty spot.

Bosses at the Carlton Hotel on The Leas in Folkestone want to restore the building to its “former glory” by “filling the cracks”.

The owner is proposing to change the existing magnolia walls and white surrounds to a darker colour scheme which will “last longer in the environment”.

Sarath Wickrama says maintenance at the hotel is extremely difficult with its current shade and believes the new paint job will “enhance the local area”.

However, Mr Wickrama’s plans for the two-star hotel have come under fire from Mark Hourahane, chair of the New Folkestone Society (NFC).

“The Leas is still largely Victorian and most properties retain a traditional white, off-white or cream colour,” he said.

“The proposed dark grey is completely inappropriate for a heritage building and would stick out like a sore thumb.”

Within the planning documents, Mr Wickrama says the exterior of the hotel – which has eight rooms and a restaurant – is in a dire state and in need of complete refurbishment.

The proposal submitted to Folkestone and Hythe District Council says: “Repairs will be to exterior masonry, rendering where necessary, filling cracks and restoring this beautiful building to former glory.”

But Mr Hourahane thinks more needs to be done to the site to repair it.

He added: “Changing the paint colour because it's ‘easier to maintain’ suggests a lack of willingness to properly maintain the building.

“The issues will still be there, in some cases damaging the building, just less visible.

“However, there is a suggestion that they want to perform further maintenance such as ‘filling cracks’ and ‘rendering where necessary’.

“Such issues should be properly assessed so that appropriate materials and methods (including paint) can be selected.”

If approved, the window frames of the Carlton Hotel will be kept white and it is the owner's preference that the surrounds become very dark grey.

The balcony balustrades will remain black. The guttering and downpipes will either be black or mid-grey.

Further along the clifftop promenade, work on the huge Leas Pavilion coastal tower block of 91 luxury flats has stalled.

Construction has been paused while a new sprinkler tank is installed in the basement of the building.

It means two large grey blocks, which will eventually become the stairwells, currently loom over the site.

Eventually, it will be home to plush sea-view apartments looming over The Leas – ranging in price from £325,000 for the smallest one-bedroom flats to £3 million for the significantly larger penthouses.

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The Leas was created by Lord Radnor in the late 19th century to attract Victorian holidaymakers to Folkestone.

It is home to famous hotels The Grand and The Metropole and there is a bandstand where events take place during the summer.

The Carlton Hotel was contacted for a comment.