Craigendoran's long-derelict pier passed into new ownership this week – although the identity of the buyer remains unknown.

The pier, along with two acres of surrounding land, was one of several properties in the Helensburgh and Lomond area listed for sale at an auction in Glasgow.

But a second development site in the area – covering 3.5 acres in Cove – failed to attract any interest at the same event.

The sale of the Craigendoran site, which had a guide price of £48,000, was not completed during the event itself, which was organised by Future Property Auctions.

Bidding began at £35,000 and was closed by the auctioneer after a provisional bid of £40,000 was lodged.

Following the auction, however, Helensburgh resident Lorna Arroll posted on social media that she had spoken to the new owners of the land.

Lorna told the Advertiser: “They said they were just going to develop it for themselves, but it would depend on what goes through planning.

“They said they'd developed other sites in the past and had just built another property.”

The pier was opened in 1882 and was a major terminal for Clyde steamer services until its closure in 1972 after years of decline.

Local councillor Richard Trail said he was surprised to learn the guide price for the Craigendoran site, in view of its potential for development.

“The pier has been deteriorating ever further for many years,” he said, “and I can't think what anybody might use it for, to be honest.

“The land to the west of the pier was being considered as a potential park and ride site for Craigendoran railway station, but we could never get agreement with the past landowner, so as far as I know that's pretty much been knocked on the head.

“The sale of the site is potentially a good thing, there's no doubt about that, but it all depends on what's in the owner's mind. If there's any potential development that would fit in with the council's development plan I'm sure we'd be very interested indeed in finding out details.

“As an investment it seems very speculative indeed at that price, but if someone has a plan to make money from it, good luck to them.”

The 3.5 acre site at Buncrana in Cove had a guide price of £75,000, but no interest was expressed after the auctioneers sought to start bids at £65,000.

Arrochar Stores in Arrochar also remained unsold after bidding for the retail unit reached £39,000 – well short of the catalogue guide price of £48,000.

The auction catalogue also featured five Helensburgh residential properties.

A first-floor flat at 26 East Princes Street attracted a provisional bid of £35,000 on a guide price of £39,000, and a similarly provisional bid of £31,000 was received for a second-floor flat at 59 West Clyde Street, listed in the catalogue as having a guide price of £40,000.

The same fate befell a top floor flat at 24 Sinclair Street, which attracted a provisional bid of £31,000, compared to a catalogue guide price of £45,000.

But a three-bedroomed former council house in Old Luss Road remained unsold after bidding reached £50,000 on a guide price of £55,000, and a residential property in East Princes Street similarly did not sell after bidding reached £49,000.

Derek Bowman, property manager at Helensburgh estate agents McArthur Stanton, said: “The Cove development site has been in auction catalogues before – I know the site fairly well, and I think it would be quite a difficult one to develop.

“Although it's quite a nice site, with lovely views, anybody buying it would have to do something about access to the site, and considerations like that tend to put folk off.

“The Craigendoran one is an interesting site – I think it's much more developable, and it's far more accessible to the amenities of Helensburgh than the one in Cove."

“Most of the properties in the auction last week were flats, and that's one area of the market that is a bit sticky at the moment – first-time buyers are still struggling to get loans, which is a shame, because if you're able to get a deposit together for a mortgage, in the long run it makes a lot more sense than renting.”