Eerie pictures reveal the sorry state of a derelict care home and former prep school now set for a drastic transformation.

The 117-year-old building in Westgate-on-Sea has sat abandoned for 11 years and been described as a “wreck” by its current owners.

Photos inside what was most recently the Summerlands Lodge care home show missing floorboards, broken windows and rotting doorframes.

But the Grade II-listed property will soon be given a new lease of life after planning permission was granted to turn it into a complex of flats and chalet bungalows.

Images released as part of the application show the dilapidated condition of the building and its deserted corridors and hallways.

A planning statement said: “Since 2012, the building has stood empty and has deteriorated significantly. It is open to the elements and much of the interior detail has been badly damaged.

“We want to restore the present wreck into a useful addition to the council’s housing need at a time when there is a shortfall in supply.”

In 1906, Summerlands Lodge started as a purpose-built prep school for boys called Doon House.

During the Second World War, pupils were evacuated to Hertfordshire, and the home was used as lodgings for RAF officers from the base at Manston.

The school did not reopen, and ​​in 1946 was bought by the Royal British Legion and turned into a nursing and convalescent home renamed Maurice Lodge.

It later became the head office of a construction company, before in the mid-1980s being converted into a care home.

The main building frontage will be converted into 27 flats – 12 of them with one bedroom and 15 with two.

Twelve two-bedroom bungalows will be built to the rear of the site, replacing 1960s extensions, which will be demolished.

A total of 43 parking spaces will be included and each bungalow will have its own private garden.

In the years since people last walked the building’s corridors a small colony of brown long-eared and common pipistrelle bats has set up camp.

Since their habitat will be disturbed, developers have been ordered to construct seven bat boxes on the site.

No objections to the plans were made by neighbours, while a representation from Westgate-On-Sea Town Council said: “This is a welcomed, well-designed, sympathetic development in a key area of the town.”

The application was approved by Thanet District Council planning officers using delegated powers.

In his report ahead of the decision being taken, planning officer Ducan Fitt said: “This application would result in a number of further alterations to the listed building to facilitate the change of use.

“However, it would remove the existing modern extensions that are considered to be significantly harmful and replace them with extensions that are in keeping with the age and character of the building.

“The occupation and the reuse of the building are considered to be a significant benefit and this application would help to secure the listed building for the future.

“It is therefore considered that whilst there is some harm that results from this development, the public benefits outweigh this harm and it should be approved.”

Developers will have to carry out an archaeological survey before any construction takes place due to Iron, Roman and Bronze Age burials being found nearby.