Hoardings surrounding a controversial seaside development site have been covered in graffiti by vandals hitting out at the local council.

The multi-million pound Princes Parade project in Hythe continues to prove divisive amid ongoing delays caused by spiralling costs.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC), which is Conservative-run, has spent millions trying to build homes and a new leisure centre on the land, after years-long legal fights against campaigners.

The development on a former landfill site has been blighted by delays, starting with a failed attempt in 2020 to overturn the planning decision by judicial review failed in 2020, and costs doubled during 2022, from £2.56 million to almost £5m.

Hoardings were put up around the site to ensure it remains secure, despite work being paused on the controversial scheme after costs doubled during 2022, from £2.56 million to almost £5m

Now, vandals have made their displeasure known, scrawling “Tory crime scene” in metre-high letters on hoardings around the site over the long weekend.

Other panels have been painted with slurs against specific council members.

It is thought the graffiti was sprayed in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A resident, who asked to remain nameless, said: “I believe it must have been late Friday evening or in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“I walk there every morning and I don't remember seeing it Friday during the day.”

There are reports the Prince Parade scheme could be shelved if a new party takes control after this week’s elections.

This is despite suggestions a private developer has offered to take the long-standing project off the cash-strapped council’s hands.

Council leader David Monk said previously: “I would have loved to have delivered it - at the moment I can’t. This offer gives hope of it being delivered sooner rather than later”.

At the last pre-election meeting of FHDC on March 29, a petition signed by 361 people calling for the development to be scrapped and for the site to be rewilded was heard.

Cabinet member and Hythe representative Cllr Lesley Whybrow (Green) backed the petition, calling the site as it stands now “a muddy mess” and an “eyesore”.

She proposed a motion that the possibility of scrapping the development and rewilding the area near the Royal Military Canal should be referred to the council’s overview and scrutiny committee.

The motion was passed, with 26 votes in favour, two abstentions, and none against, but the overview and scrutiny committee will not discuss it until after the local elections, where it is possible the composition of the council could change.

A spokesperson for FHDC said “Graffiti and anti-social behaviour costs all council tax payers.

“We are in the process of clearing it.”