More than £100,000 of taxpayers’ money has been spent on plans to remove pews from St Mary’s church and turn the historic building into a concert and exhibition space.

No work has yet been carried out on the fabric of the building and the “faculty”, the church equivalent of planning permission, has not yet been applied for.

Plans to remove the pews, dating from 1879, from the town centre parish church have divided the community.

The vicar, curate, majority of the congregation and Ashford Borough Council think it would be a better use of resources to have a space that could be used by Ashford Youth Theatre, artists and musicians, as well as for worship, but some think the £1.2m it will cost to transform the space could be better spent elsewhere.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show how much has been spent and who has paid the bill so far.

The majority of money has come from Growth Area Funding, or GAF, which is managed by Ashford’s Future. The fund is public money made available to towns, like Ashford, which are tasked with creating thousands of new homes and jobs.

Chris Cooper, pictured above, a member of St Mary’s congregation who objects to the plans, thinks some of the money should be spent on restoring the church.

He said: “As for the £8,300 that the borough council has so far spent on the project, we could have the clock carillon – broken since 2002 – repaired by now. It will cost £6,000, so I’m told.”

Ashford Borough Council has pledged £100,000 of the £1.2m projected final bill.

Cllr Michael Claughton (Con), the Ashford borough councillor taking a lead role on the project, said: “The £8,300 provided to the project by the council so far came from the arts budget, and spread from 2005 to date. It is not a clock repair fund.”

Canon Colin Preece of St Mary’s Church said: “This investment is a huge opportunity for the church.

“The income from arts performances and community events will preserve the historical, architectural and community significance of St Mary’s.”