A CITY centre plot left derelict for more than 20 years will stay that way after plans for a £20 million international student boarding school and offices were ripped up.

The Study Group has pulled out of ambitious proposals to convert an abandoned plot in Station Street, Brighton, to expand their city offices and provide accommodation for nearly 150 students.

The scheme was only unveiled last June but the firm said it had decided not to progress with expansion plans in the city at the current time.

The decision have left residents wondering whether the plot currently used as a car park will ever be developed.

But there may be hope as property agents Flude put the site back on the market and have received "a lot of interest" on the site as its deadline for bidders on January 29 expired.

The 0.3 acre site was previously used as a warehouse for Comet and it is currently leased as a temporary car park.

The abandoned Study Group plans were projected to create 170 construction jobs and 120 full-time jobs while bringing an additional £4 million to the city economy.

The proposed extension of the firm’s facilities at Voyager House in nearby Billinton Way were set to include 148 single en-suite rooms for pupils aged from 13 to 18 from around the world.

James Pitman, managing director of Higher Education UK and Europe at The Study Group, said: “Following recent strategic analysis of our facilities in the UK, we have decided not to progress proposals to extend our presence in Brighton at the present time.

“We are continually reviewing opportunities for new and existing premises in line with our UK business growth strategy."

Sandy Crowhurst, North Laine Community Association planning and environment co-ordinator, said: “It's boarded up and used as a car park and has been like that for years and years.

“We have concerns about the studentification of the area especially with the Circus Street development but we were comfortable with the Bellerby’s plan because the site would have been well-managed and it would have a curfew at nine at night.

“I think residents would have preferred this development to it staying derelict for much longer.”