THE new owners of the tin church hope to retain its place in the community and its iconic status.

Financial advisor John Keesing and wife Kay, who have lived in Hythe for 18 months, want to use St Michael's Church as an office, with some extra space for training and seminars, but they also hope to allow local artists to use it for exhibitions.

The couple want to refurbish the Stade Street building, which is currently in need of internal and external repair.

Mr Keesing said: "We want it to stay as a facility that the community can access.

"We're relatively new to the area but we feel this historic building is of great importance to the town and the people of Hythe. It's iconic and we want to make sure that what we do with it is sympathetic and that the building can still be used by the community."

Campaigners concerned that the church could be demolished mounted a successful attempt to get it listed last year.

Mr Keesing said: "It can't change much now and I'm glad of that because I don't want to change anything, we're keen for it to stay as it is.

"A lot of our ideas are in their infancy because it depends on what we're allowed to do, but I like the thought of making a facility for local artists to set up exhibitions. There was one at the tin church last summer, so we went in, then a few months later, we saw the 'for sale' board.

"We love Hythe so much, we wanted to buy an office here and this seemed a fantastic opportunity to buy a piece of Hythe history."

Patricia Cooper, who campaigned for the listing of the building, said: "I hope nothing's going to be done that would be detrimental to the inherent style of the church. But if its integrity isn't changed and it's still available for the community, it sounds a good idea."

The Keesings are keen to find out more about the history of tin tabernacles and St Michael's in particular. Anyone with information should call 07802 754462.