Fleet Leisure in Northfleet has been sold at auction.

More than 20 people worked at Fleet Leisure and Sports Club in Nelson Road, Northfleet, which closed in September.

The grounds and buildings are owned by Gravesham council.

Yesterday the lease went to auction after Lloyds back decided to sell it.

It was sold for £60,000 to a telephone bid.

The 50-year lease has 42 years to run.

Gravesham council originally hoped to get the lease back and reopen the centre and refurbish the sports and leisure facilities.

The new owners of the lease have yet to get in contact with the council so what happens next remains unknown.

This decision to sell frustrated Gravesham council leader Cllr John Burden who said: “We were led to believe the bank would not stand in the way of putting the centre back into community use quickly.

“It is galling that a bank – which received billions of pounds of public money in the government bail-out – should take a stance which directly hits the community.

“It seems the Black Horse also has a black heart.”

A spokesman from Lloyds Banking Group said: “As the secured lender, we are entitled to appoint a receiver over the asset.

“We have appointed a receiver as we believe the lease does have a value."

Fleet Leisure Ltd went into administration in April, with FRP Advisory appointed as administrator, after a recent “deterioration in trading conditions”.

The site has been a sports facility for 81 years.

The business continued to trade whileit was up for sale, though plans by Ebbsfleet Football Club to buy it fell through in July.

In 2005 former owner Kimberley-Clark sold the site, which was then Beauwater Leisure, to Gravesham council while Fleet Leisure took on the lease.