A developer has withdrawn its appeal against a refusal of plans to convert Kingston's tallest building into flats and build two more tower blocks beside it leaving the future of the empty tower uncertain.

The scheme would have seen 492 flats built at the Tolworth Tower complex on Tolworth Broadway.

Tolworth Tower is an empty 22-storey office building that has been the subject of multiple applications for redevelopment since 2015. The site has been empty since March 2019.

Kingston Council rejected the latest scheme for the site last year and developer Healey Development Solutions (Broadway) Ltd later submitted an appeal to the planning inspector against the decision.

An inquiry into the decision was scheduled to take place on 5 December, but it was cancelled as the developer withdrew its appeal.

The scheme would have seen Tolworth Tower changed from offices into flats, with a new residents' gym, lounges, meeting spaces, dining rooms and a cinema in the building.

The first floor would have been used as a workspace and three retail kiosks would have been added.

Two more apartment blocks would have also been built on the site – one up to 20 storeys tall and the other reaching up to 16 storeys.

The new tower blocks would have had space for shops on the ground and first floors.

A total of 492 flats would have been built across the three tower blocks, including 50 affordable homes.

There would have been a new public plaza at the base of the proposed towers.

But the council rejected the scheme in May last year after ruling it included 'poor design' and failed to fully justify the 'proposed significant loss of employment floorspace'.

A report by council officers on the decision said the developer had not shown the scheme would follow the highest fire safety standards as it had not submitted a 'robust' fire statement addressing policy requirements on means of escape and access for firefighters, while it had also failed to sufficiently show it would deliver the maximum level of affordable housing viable for the site.

Tolworth Tower is listed for letting as offices on estate agents Curchod & Co's website, which describes it as 'perfectly positioned for transport, with easy access to South West and Central London, and to nearby local centres Surbiton, Kingston and Wimbledon'.