KENT County Council is facing accusations of delaying the publication of a report into why it abandoned its original plans for the Turner arts centre at Margate.

It has emerged a detailed report setting out the results of an investigation into what went wrong will not be published for at least six months.

The admission follows a request made by the Thanet Extra newspaper, part of the Kent Messenger Group, under the Freedom of Information Act, asking KCC to disclose information about its decision to pull the plug on the project.

The county council rejected our request on the grounds that to release the information now would not be in the public interest. However, it did reveal that since 1998, £7.7million was spent on the scheme, of which £6.3million went on capital costs.

In a letter setting out why it was rejecting our request, KCC argued that to release "raw data" information it held could result "in a public debate that may also be aired in the media"

It also said the disclosure of information now would "be prejudicial to KCC’s democratic processes and would inhibit its officers from providing clear unequivocal advice to cabinet."

Finally, it cited a clause under the Act allowing it to withhold the information because it would eventually be published.

Margate county councillor Cllr Clive Hart said KCC risked being accused of a cover up.

"I find it a little strange that KCC is planning the next stage of the project before you have evaluated the first one. I do not want to hold anything up but at the same time we need to learn the lessons of what went wrong. Six months does seem to me to be a very long time to come up with its reasons. I sincerely hope there is not a cover up," he said.

That was denied by KCC's cabinet member for community services, Cllr Mike Hill (Con) who said the investigation was lengthy because it involved complex issues.

He said: "We are trying to establish cause and effect and whether there is anything we can do to claw back some of the money we have spent and that is clearly a matter of legal opinion."

The authority scrapped the original plan for the Turner Centre in February after the estimated costs soared to £50million and this week announced a new masterplan for Margate involving building The Turner Centre onshore near the pier.

At the time of the its decision to scrap the first centre, KCC said there had been an issue about the building vibrating in its exposed position on the pier that had not previously been known about.