RED-faced Thurrock council officers have been forced to 'unpublish' a public notice related to the potential sale of a parcel of land it owns after Thurrock Nub News pointed out it had given misleading information regarding the site's location.

The cash-strapped council is on a significant mission to sell off its assets and has given details of three more patches of land it wishes to dispose of.

Last month small plots of land earned the council £153,750 after it controversially took sites to the auction market.

It has now issued details of three more plots it seeks to dispose of – but was left embarrassed when it published a public notice about one of them with the wrong location details.

The plots up for grabs in the council's desperate rush to offload assets were for the sale of approximately 1.74 acres to the east of One Tree Hill near Stanford-le-Hope, a plot of approximately 3.25 acres adjacent to the A13 near Corringham and an area of public open space surrounding homes in South Ockendon.

The council published online notice of its intent to sell the land in South Ockendon but described it as north of Mollands Avenue – which does not exist. The reality is the land is somewhat north of Mollands Lane, surrounding residential areas.

The land to be sold appears to be a buffer between existing homes and surrounding green belt. The area comprises approximately 9.6 acres of land. The council said it is intended that the site, which appears to be green belt, be disposed of 'on a freehold basis'.

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Thurrock Nub News contacted the council to point out the naming error and asked if the validity of the public notice was compromised, but we have received no official response. However, sources within the authority have said the public notice has now been 'unpublished' and is not a valid document because it has not yet been delivered in a printed format.

The two other planned sales appear to be underway without problems. The sites can be seen below.