  Intermediate mass stars (IMSs) represent the link between low-mass and
high-mass stars and cover a key mass range for giant planet formation. In this
paper, we present a spectroscopic survey of 241 young IMS candidates with
IR-excess, the most complete unbiased sample to date within 300 pc. We combined
VLT/X-Shooter spectra with BVR photometric observations and Gaia DR3 distances
to estimate fundamental stellar parameters such as Teff, mass, radius, age, and
luminosity. We further selected those stars within the intermediate mass range
1.5 <= Mstar/Msun <= 3.5 and discarded old contaminants. We used 2MASS and WISE
photometry to study the IR-excesses of the sample, finding 92 previously
unidentified stars with IR-excess. We classified this sample into
'protoplanetary', 'hybrid candidates' and 'debris' discs based on their
observed fractional excess at 12microns, finding a new population of 17 hybrid
disc candidates. We studied inner disc dispersal timescales for {\lambda} <
10{\mu}m and found very different trends for IMSs and low mass stars (LMSs).
IMSs show excesses dropping fast during the first 6 Myrs independently of the
wavelength, while LMSs show consistently lower fractions of excess at the
shortest wavelengths and increasingly higher fractions for longer wavelengths,
with slower dispersal rates. In conclusion, this study demonstrates empirically
that IMSs dissipate their inner discs very differently than LMSs, providing a
possible explanation for the lack of short period planets around IMSs.
