An estate agent’s For Sale board has prompted rumours a pub that closed five years ago for junction improvements is to re-open.

The sign next to to The Wheatsheaf on the Loose Road, in Maidstone, has led some passing motorists to believe that Kent County Council (KCC), which had previously purchased the pub, was stepping back from its junction plans.

The For Sale board sparked a flurry of speculation on social media that the pub might re-open, with Julia Moore from Shepway commenting: “Wow, that would be great!” and Darren Thompson from Loose observing: “It used to be a great pub!”

But closer examination reveals the For Sale sign is in fact for Wheat Cottage, the house next door at 309 Loose Road.

The last pint at the Wheatsheaf was pulled by the landlords Renee and Rosa Kenny in January 2019 after KCC bought the building for a rumoured £500,000 so that it could be pulled down to make way for an “extended signalised junction.”

Demolition was scheduled for July 2021, but still nothing has happened.

Ambitious plans were drawn up, which included having three lanes approaching town from the Sutton Road and two lanes approaching town from Loose Road.

Unfortunately, in the past five years, KCC has got no further than closing Cranborne Avenue to traffic.

Sean Carter is the chairman of the North Loose Residents’ Association.

He said: “My assessment is that KCC is now holding off to find out the results of the government inspector’s examination of the Maidstone Local Plan Review.

“There are two large housing allocations in the Local Plan – for 247 homes and for 300 homes - by the Kent Police building, which KCC objected to on highways grounds.

“But if the inspector allows them, they will put much more pressure on the Sutton Road and ultimately the Wheatsheaf junction and KCC will have to do something or we shall just have gridlock.”

But Mr Carter suggested the original signalised junction plan was not the answer.

He suggested it was time for some “blue-sky thinking” to come up with a completely different solution.

In the meantime, Mr Carter speculated that Maidstone was unlikely to see anything happen at the Wheatsheaf for “two or three years at least.”

Brian Clark is one of the borough councillors for the area. He said: “It’s shocking. After five years, we’ve got nowhere other than the closure of a road that 73 out of 97 people who responded to the consultation on it said they didn’t want closed.

“My understanding is that KCC is now looking to a ‘do-minimal plan’, which might be nothing more than altering the phasing of the traffic lights and painting a few white lines.

“What was the exit plan when they purchased the pub? All that has been achieved is that they have denied the area the use of a valued local amenity.”

But Cllr Clark (Lib Dem) was not just critical of KCC, the Highways Authority. He said: “Traffic mitigation at this junction was an essential part of Maidstone council’s 2017 Local Plan which permitted a string of developments along the Sutton Road.

“The homes have gone ahead but not the junction improvements. Maidstone Borough Council should be jumping up and down in anger. It has to take ownership of this issue now.”

Cllr Clark has called the matter in to be discussed at a borough council scrutiny committee in February.

A KCC spokesperson said: “The next phase of the project will now be finalised to achieve the optimum design for the Wheatsheaf junction and consolidate the benefits derived from the closure of Cranborne Avenue.

“The final design and programme for Phase 2 will be confirmed in due course. “