EVERYONE who has ever been to Margate remembers Arlington House.

It is one of the first things you see as you enter the town and the last thing you see as you leave.

The building looks more like something you would see on the outskirts of Beijing or Moscow rather than the east Kent coast, and you don't need Bob Geldof to tell you it's a bit of an eyesore.

It is for that reason that many people rejoiced at the news that money from a Tesco supermarket would be used to give the block of flats a facelift last year.

Though buildings rarely turn out like the artist's impressions, many welcomed the new facade and shops in the battered old concrete surroundings.

But as attractive as a new-look seafront is, the changes must not come at the expense of those who live in the building.

It is not the fault of the many elderly residents inside the tower block that it has become unsightly over the years. They should not be left to pick up the cost of its improvement alone.

The gargantuan company that is Tesco could make a lot of money from having a store by the station of a soon-to-be-thriving seaside town, and councillors and planners should not shirk at asking it to pay its share and be a good neighbour to those who were there long before it was.

We must not allow big businesses to trample on our town's residents for fear they may take flight if we put up a fight.