Abu Dhabi royals accused of mothballing £320m flats

A London council today launched an extraordinary attack on the Abu Dhabi royal family's handling of a property development.

Kensington and Chelsea officers said the time the sheikhs were taking to turn two Victorian hotels into 100 flats was a "disgrace".

The council has threatened to "exercise its formal powers" to speed up the project in Kensington Road after neighbours complained about living next to a building site.

The Middle Eastern royals bought the former Kensington Palace and Kensington Park hotels from the Candy brothers for £320 million in March 2008.

The site came with planning permission to transform it into flats designed by minimalist architect David Chipperfield, preserving some of the frontage.

The developers say preparation work is under way but more detailed plans must be submitted and approved before building work can start.

A council spokeswoman said: "It is a disgrace that such prominent buildings, sited directly opposite Kensington Palace, should be ignored for so long."

The Abu Dhabi developers were said to view the criticism as "very unfair".

A spokesman for their UK agents, Lancer Property Asset Management, said: "My clients were shocked by this outburst, they think this is embarrassing and it makes them uncomfortable."

He added: "We've spent 11 months removing asbestos and repairing parts of the old buildings so we can protect them.

"We're in the process of drawing up detailed plans for submission, which take time because we're trying to preserve parts of it and it's a conservation area."

He said the earliest that building work could start was next year.