A deal to sell the former ABC cinema site in Tunbridge Wells has fallen through.

The Carlyle Group, which was sold the site in 2001, has revealed it spent a number of months working on plans which involved a new hotel-led leisure and retail scheme.

But today bosses say they have been left disappointed after the hotel pulled out.

A spokesman for The Carlyle Group said the site, which was cleared of the former cinema in 2014, will now go back on the market.

He added: "Having spent a number of months working up plans for the site and conditionally agreeing its sale to a prospective buyer, we are very disappointed that the buyer’s prospective anchor tenant, which was a national hotel chain, has reassessed its plans and withdrawn.

"As a result that deal is now off the table."

The Carlyle Group has appointed Savills and Strutt & Parker to re-market the site with a view to finding a new buyer as soon as possible.

"We continue to believe in the potential of the site and are encouraged both by the levels of interest we received when we marketed it previously and by the fact that we recently received a couple of unsolicited enquiries from potential purchasers," the spokesman added.

Leader of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council David Jukes said he is disappointed by the news.

"This situation is outside our control. The council’s criteria for development on the site remains the same," he added.

In December 2014 controversial hoardings costing more than £20,000 were put up around the plot, which has been unused since 2000.

The plans were labelled a waste of money but the hoarding were covered in images of iconic buildings and areas in Tunbridge Wells.