A church looking for a new community hub is hoping to take on a former bank in Ashford town centre.

New City of Redemption Parish has submitted plans to Ashford Borough Council to convert the unit previously used by the Royal Bank of Scotland in New Rents.

The church, which started in 2008, has been looking for its own premises for years having previously had to move locations a number of times.

In 2017, the group, which is part of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, had to move from Apsley House in Western Avenue as planning permission was granted for it to be converted into flats.

While looking for a new home, it temporarily met at the Ashford International Hotel.

A year later, church leaders applied to Ashford Borough Council (ABC) to move to a unit on the Bridge Road Business Centre, but the application was refused.

They currently meet at the Repton Connect Community Centre but Pastor Ayo Oloruntoba hopes this new building will be the church’s forever home.

He said: “We have moved from one place to another which is not good for us because when you move, you lose members and then they build up again but then we have the same problem again.

“This building is simply because we want to use it as a community centre and a youth hall.

“We want it to be accessible because we deal with so many people, elderly people, young people and health and wellbeing, but we don’t have a place of our own.

“We need a place we can have for ourselves where we can do everything we need without being restricted by time and other people needing the space.”

There will also be a coffee shop which will hold community coffee mornings and will double up as a hangout or study during the week.

Events with live music, film and art will also be organised in a bid to ‘reinvigorate’ Ashford and highlight talent.

The site in the town centre was chosen because of its size. The only thing it lacks is parking but Pastor Oloruntoba says he can look past that.

He added: “The town centre is okay, but things are dying down.

“It’s simply because this building meets our needs in terms of size and shape because it’s open-plan.

“There is parking close by but since we have more people coming on a Sunday morning, the town centre is usually quieter then and we can use the free parking.

“During the week our activities are mostly in the evening.

“For the things we do during the day, we don’t have as many people so I think we can manage without any problems without the parking.

“We believe it is good to revive the town centre and resuscitate that area.”

If the change of use plans are approved at the end of April, Pastor Oloruntoba says the community will move forward with the purchase and making the site its own.

Opposite the former RBS, developers want to build a 92-bed hotel in place of six shops, including the former Argos.