Approved plans to turn an old hotel into a petrol station, M&S food shop and McDonald’s have been quashed.

Permission for the development at the old Tollgate Hotel site was granted in January but Simon Privett, owner of the nearby Tollgate Service Station, lodged judicial review proceedings soon after.

The matter has now been settled out of court and the application will have to go back before planners.

A Gravesham council spokesman told the Messenger: “Although the claim was accepted to be heard at the High Court, the council contested the claim but following legal advice the matter was settled out of court, on only one of the eight grounds claimed.

“The council paid the sum of £20,000 to Mr Privett to cover the court costs.”

The council admitted it had not properly taken into account paragraph 89 of the National Planning Policy Framework – essentially what is acceptable in the Green Belt.

The spokesman added: “The decision regarding the new filling station and McDonald’s restaurant and drive-thru stands quashed and the application remains undetermined and will now need to be reconsidered by the council at either the regulatory board meeting in November or December. The application will be for the same proposals.”

The plans would have seen the 114-room Tollgate Hotel – just off the A2 at Gravesend – demolished to make way for the drive-thru McDonald’s with car park, 16-pump BP petrol station and an M&S Food shop.

It is just a few hundred yards away from the existing BP petrol station run by Mr Privett, which faced closure with competition from the new services.

At the time of plans being approved, there were 33 objection letters, 363 circular letters and a petition opposing the idea signed by 1,784 people sent to the planning department.

The Tollgate Hotel was bought by the Highways Agency under a compulsory purchase order in November 2006 for £4.85 million when the A2 was widened.

Once that was finished, for several years it was offered for sale and marketed as a site suitable for continued hotel use.