A town centre shop once earmarked for a 132-room hotel with a rooftop bar and restaurant has been put on the market for £3million.

The Value Store in Week Street, Maidstone, is up for sale at the seven-figure sum or available to rent for £30,000 a year.

The shop, which sells budget household goods. hardware, cards and party items, is found near Metro Bank and Jubilee Square.

In 2019 proposals for an eight-storey hotel, which would create an estimated 44 jobs, were submitted to the council for the former Mothercare site, which shut in 2019.

Plans included a rooftop bar, with the hotel backing on to Wyke Manor Road.

Property management firm Assetrock, which was behind the scheme, believed it would boost tourism and boost spending in the County Town by around £650,000 a year.

In 2019, a spokesman for the company said: "Our intention is to regenerate the site as a high quality 132-bed hotel, with public areas including a rooftop bar, to contribute to the successful regeneration of Maidstone town centre and provide benefit to the local economy."

Proposals for the 66,000 sq ft hotel were later approved in March 2020, with speculation it was being eyed up by Travelodge, but no further development has been made.

Pre-application plans have since been floated for a 45-home development at the site.

The building is currently being marketed by Sibley Pares and is described as a large, double fronted retail unit totalling 9,796 sq ft over the ground and first floors.

Estate agents Sibley Pares is dealing with the sale of the building and explained there has been a "positive pre-app" with Maidstone council about an alternative 45-homes scheme which would bring a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments to the town centre.

The Value Store itself has been owned and run by the Kumars for three years, who revealed to KentOnline they had no idea about the plans to sell the building but are "determined" to stay open for as long as possible.

In recent months Week Street has seen a lot of changes, with many properties, businesses and restaurants closing or opening.

Fast-food giants Wendy's, Taco Bell, German Doner Kebab and the Kaniklar Mangal Restaurant have opened in the past couple of years.

But other big-name retailers which were once the anchor of the town centre have also gone – Marks and Spencer, Woolworths, and even WHSmith which has downsized and now shares its premises with the Post Office.