Striking pictures show how an abandoned vandalism-hit hospital has been transformed into flats after sitting empty for 15 years.

The once-prominent Ashford Hospital fell into disrepair when, in 2009, services were moved to the current William Harvey site.

The building’s empty shell in King’s Avenue, off Godington Road, would soon attract graffiti and antisocial behaviour.

Some who moved into nearby homes nine years ago say windows were caved in and youths could often be seen causing trouble.

But following a painstaking transformation they are pleased to see the building looking “beautiful” after being restored to its former glory.

The block is now home to four two-bedroom apartments, all with en-suites, and the frontage has been restored by developer Blackmill Homes which took over in July.

Workers are still on site but are set to finish the project, which has cost about £900,000, later this month.

The homes should then hit the market in April.

Directors of the company Thomas and Daniel Knight say when they took on the building it was a vacant shell full of damp and dry rot.

Daniel Knight said: “It was in a bit of a state. We had a lot of work to do.

“We have spent a hell of a lot more money than we anticipated to keep the front of the building, and we rebuilt the entire back end.

“The cost is why it has sat still for so long because there is no money made.

“If we have made £10 on this project we will be lucky but it has been worth it, it looks stunning.

“We have had a lot of support from neighbours because it was an eyesore in the middle of a brand-new housing estate and people were keen to see it looking nice again.

“We want to put a clock on the front which we might get a GoFundMe for.”

He said an issue with the windows nearly halted the whole project, adding: “We were supposed to have wood windows put in but the cost made it completely unviable.

“I put in an application to change it and it was supported. That would have been the make or break, if they had said no it would have stopped.

“It went from £150,000 of windows to £25,000 and they are better windows that are more efficient.”

Mr Knight says the support they have received from neighbours has been humbling.

“Some of the neighbours have their own stories of the place so it is really personal to a lot of people,” he said:

“Everyone has a link to the building of some kind, which is a huge reason as to why it is still standing.

“Unfortunately the stairs had to go because they were rotten.

“There was damp and dry rot so we had to replace everything.

“From what it was, to what it is now, it is unrecognisable.”

For resident Betsy Heitman, the transformation has brought back a lot of personal memories.

The 70-year-old said: “I have lived in Ashford all my life and my sister was a nurse in this hospital.

“My dad was treated there as a patient a couple of times and so was my son in the late 70s.

“All these homes now surrounding it were once wards.

“When the Harvey opened and patients were sent there, they opened this up as a geriatric hospital.

“I lived not far from here when I was younger and walking through the grounds was a shortcut to Chart Road.

“It was sad seeing it all boarded up but now the builders have done such a good job, It just looks amazing.

“The front facade looks just as it used to. When it is safe, I would like to go inside to have a look.”

Karley Ward, 35, who was one of the first to move into the new builds nine years ago says she is really pleased with the almost finished result.

She said: “When we first moved in it was a derelict building and we always used to see people messing about in there.

“It's good to see it looking nice instead of leaving it to fall apart.

“My kids have got quite excited seeing the transformation.“

Marilyn Gyles, 74 said: “It was awful when we first moved in, I used to call it ‘the derelict house’.

“Now it has been restored it is beautiful.

“When you come up King’s Avenue and see it in front of you, it is gorgeous.“

The Ashford Hospital was built in the late 1920s thanks to public subscriptions.

King George VI and the Queen Mother – then the Duke and Duchess of York – were on hand to lay the foundation stone at a ceremony on October 20, 1926, and the stone remains in place today.

It served the town for more than 65 years with services finally coming to an end in about 1993.

It once carried on all the way towards Chart Road but those blocks have long since disappeared to new housing leaving just the main entrance building standing.

Abbey Development, which built the surrounding homes, had previously wished to knock down all of the buildings, which were originally built in 1926.

Planning permission for 56 homes was granted in 2010, but in February 2015 the council refused to give permission for the developer to bulldoze the former administration block at the heart of the site.

Abbey appealed to the Planning Inspectorate but lost its case in November 2015.

Plans were then revealed in 2017 to convert the much-loved building into flats and give it a new lease of life to save it from demolition.

But plans never came off the ground and the building sat untouched.

Having changed hands a number of times, it was eventually bought by Blackmill Homes.

Ashford Historian Steve Salter who campaigned against the demolition, said he is “over the moon” with how the building looks.

He said: “It has stood empty since 2009 when the NHS parted company with it.

“It was built before the pre-welfare state, before the NHS, through public subscription in 1926 and I take my hat off to the guys who are behind it now because they have done a fantastic job.

“You can't let something that is part of Ashford's rich history go to ruins and it was going to ruins.

“This is important to me because my friend and fellow historian Richard Filmer died six years ago.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

“This was one of his campaigns to stop them from demolishing it. We managed to save it through the planning inspectorate decision.

“This is a tribute to him because I never thought in a million years we would see it like this.”