Plans have been approved for a new hotel and restaurant at the site of a former amusement arcade gutted by a huge blaze 12 years ago.

The plot on Northdown Road in Cliftonville previously housed the Time Tunnel Leisuredrome and the Beano Café next door, which were destroyed in a fire in 2009.

Some 80 firefighters battled the inferno, which severely damaged four of 14 buildings in the row of terraced properties, consisting of shops and accommodation above.

The Time Tunnel building bore the brunt of the fire and was eventually torn down.

But the vacant site is now set to be transformed after district planners approved plans by Long Eaten Development Ltd to build a 40-bed hotel, with a restaurant on the ground and basement levels.

The scheme has been amended since the application was submitted last year, with a reduction of five bedrooms.

In a statement, put together by specialists Just Planning, the applicant says the development will reinforce the character of the area and add something new to the street scene.

“The proposed development will regenerate an unsightly vacant lot whilst reinforcing the context and character of the surrounding area,” the firm said.

The applicant said the hotel had also been carefully designed to fit in with the surroundings.

“The proposed development would be accompanied by many planning benefits including a boost to local employment, the redevelopment of a vacant brownfield site in a sustainable location, and the delivery of a mixed-use scheme thus deriving multiple benefits from the use of the land,” they said.

Three objections were received questioning whether a hotel is necessary and pointing to the lack of parking, with the development including five spaces at the back. One supporter, however, said despite the scheme having its faults, it is “preferable to the current eyesore”.

Margate Conservation Area Advisory Group wrote to the council calling for it to be refused, arguing: “(It is an) inappropriate, poorly considered over-development.

“In short, we find the proposal unsympathetic to the character of the Conservation Area and the adjacent building both in aesthetic, language and mass.

“Is this also the most appropriate location for a development of this nature?

“We fear it is yet another hotel that will not be built.”

The groups says it would be an “exercise in poor design in the form of a massive banal extension”.

The applicant says it will boost jobs and bring a disused lot back into use in a “highly sustainable” part of Margate.

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