A MERSEYSIDE council is sitting on millions of pounds of unsold assets because of a dearth of buyers.

Sefton Council has tried and failed to sell a host of vacant buildings in recent months.

While some deals have fallen through at the 11th hour, other lots have not attracted even a single bidder.

The council’s “asset disposal” scheme has raised more than £33m over the past four years.

But just £1.6m of that was raised last year.

The previous year it received £15.7m from sales and in 2005/06 £12.9m. In 2006/07, £3.13m was received by the council.

The money from selling old buildings – including old schools, surplus offices and ex-council houses – goes back into council coffers to pay for new building projects and to bankroll services.

In one case, Sefton was on the cusp of completing the sale of three plots of land in Litherland that would have garnered £6.2m.

The land, on the Sefton Estate off Northern Perimeter Road, had become vacant after the so-called “Z Blocks” of flats were cleared.

A developer was selected who planned to build more than 220 homes, most of which would have been apartments.

But the purchaser pulled out after the market for apartments dried up and the recession hit.