LAND earmarked as part of a dramatic overhaul of the Hythe is set to be sold off.

The former Colchester Dock Transit Company site – better known as Coldock – will be sold by property experts Savills at auction later this month with a guide price of £625,000.

The site was initially earmarked as part of the Rio Ferdinand-led Legacy Foundation's plans to regenerate the area, which would have seen hundreds of homes and state-of-art sport facilities built, with as much as 35 per cent of the homes would be set aside for social housing.

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However, in order for those plans to be viable, Colchester Council had hoped to secure a sizeable grant from the Government's Housing and Infrastructure Fund.

But in July, it was confirmed the authority's application had been unsuccessful.

READ MORE: Set back for Legacy Foundation's plans for Hythe homes

Owners Homes England have now put the land up for sale.

A synopsis posted on selling site Rightmove states: "[This is] a strategically important commercial site comprising two separate irregular shaped parcels of land totalling 2.77 acres, located in the heart of Colchester close to the River Colne and having further potential for other uses subject to planning permission."

Mike Lilley, whose ward - Old Heath and Hythe - covers the area said: "It was disappointing the plans didn't quite work out and I expect the footballers are now probably looking somewhere else because we couldn't get the funding required.

"It's one of those things; if the council had a viable plan to build in the area then the land would have been included.

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"It is a tricky one because, although the land price probably isn't all that much to people who would be interested, the clean up costs could run much higher, perhaps into the millions; which is what our plan for the Government funding was for."

He added: "I would imagine, given where it is, whoever buys it might look to put student accommodation there."