Plans have been unveiled to build a housing development on an abandoned Victorian railway line last used almost 100 years ago.

Developers want to erect nine three-storey homes on a spot of wasteland running along Nash Road in Margate.

The site was previously home to tracks laid between the town and Ramsgate in 1846, but both the line and the former Margate Sands railway station it served were closed 80 years later.

While most of the railway line's former footprint has already been built on, developers have submitted plans for a patch of land they say is blighted by fly-tipping.

It is currently home to shrubs and old storage containers, but the path of the old tracks can still be seen.

Developer Rebus Planning Solutions says the new homes would create a more attractive setting for neighbours.

"The homes will be high quality and complement the character of nearby developments," it says in planning documents submitted to Thanet District Council.

"They will enhance the appearance of the site – to the benefit of local residents and future occupants."

Furthermore, the house-builder claims the homes would "help the council deliver housing to the district".

It adds: "The need for additional housing is keenly felt across much of the country, and - particularly within Thanet - there has been an historic pattern of under-delivery of housing."

Two off-street parking spaces would be given to each of the nine homes, as well as front and back gardens.

All of the houses would be built over three storeys, with six three-bedroom and three-four bedroom properties planned.

The Margate Sands railway station served the town from 1846 to 1926 on the Kent Coast Line.

The station and connection line was first proposed in 1841 by the South Eastern Railway (SER), and surveyed by Robert Stephenson.

It struggled with competition from rival railways, particularly the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR), which constructed a line around Thanet to Ramsgate Harbour in 1863.

The station closed on July 2, 1926 as part of the Southern Railway's plan to connect up and amalgamate the separate railway lines around Thanet built by SER and others.

The branch line continued to be used as a goods depot until 1972, and then later as a car park, apartments and even an amusement arcade.