A £2.5m cafe in a well-known park will not open to the public until the New Year.

The Mote Park Café in Maidstone has taken more than a year to build, with the council saying it won't be open any time soon.

Work first started on the cafe back in June 2021, with the former Mayor of Maidstone Cllr Fay Gooch and Cllr David Burton launching the construction.

The new facility in the 440-acre park will include indoor and outdoor seating, a flexible space for learning, a meeting area for schools and community groups to hire, as well as new larger modern toilets with a specially-adapted larger space for the disabled.

It will also have improved landscaping and new surfacing on the path to the car park, where increased bicycle parking will be installed.

The existing cafe and toilet block have already been demolished – which should allow visitors to enjoy a better view of the lake.

Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) initially said the work would be completed this summer, however this was delayed.

A spokesman for MBC said: "The works on Mote Park commissioned by MBC, and being constructed by BBS Construction, have three elements: a new estates services building situated close by to the leisure centre; the new visitor centre and toilets; and the new café building.

"All three facilities are expected to be complete by the end of November.

"Once the café is completed, however, the café operator who has taken the lease on the building will need to complete their internal fit-out to include their commercial kitchen, and so it is envisaged that the café will not open to the public until the New Year."

The project is costing £2.5 million.

Many people took to social media to express their frustration, with one saying: "Trip to Mote Park today and surprised (or not) to find the restaurant is STILL unfinished!"

Another commented: "Ridiculous – seen blocks of flats built quicker than that cafe."

John Oliver, from Coverdale Avenue, spends time at the park once a week.

He said: "Initially they knocked the old cafe down and there was nothing being built for a few weeks.

"There is currently an affordable and portable kiosk that sells coffee and burgers – but it's not the same as people can't sit down.

"I can't believe it's still not done. It feels like it is taking forever."

He added: "I've spoken to the council on several occasions and made a complaint.

"It's a waste of public money with the amount of delays it has had.

"I'm 85 years old and I feel like I won't see the opening."