Plans to turn a historic Canterbury building into a nail bar with a “more modern and appealing” shopfront have been blasted as “horrendous”.

The new owners of the former Boho cafe in the High Street have applied for listed building consent to rip out the existing Victorian-style frontage and replace it with aluminium glazing as part of alterations for the new business.

But the proposals are being challenged by the Canterbury Heritage Design Forum group, which seeks to preserve the city’s architectural history and integrity.

“The proposal is horrendous and we are very concerned about it,” said member Clive Bowley.

“The building is Georgian and its existing shopfront was installed in 1906, but the modern aluminium glazing being proposed is totally inappropriate.”

The Grade II-listed building was previously owned by the historic neighbouring Eastbridge Hospital Trust, which sold it at auction last year for £400,000.

Mr Bowley says he hopes the city council’s planning officers will throw out the scheme, or at least put it forward to the planning committee for consideration.

“We have been trying to preserve our traditional shopfronts and this would be completely wrong in this historic setting,” he said.

In their application, the architects say the aim of the change is to make the shopfront more modern and appealing.

But Mr Bowley claims it shows they “don’t appreciate the sensitivity of the location”.

The Canterbury Heritage Design Forum has recently backed the city council’s crackdown on garish shopfronts in the city centre, which one councillor claimed was turning Canterbury into a “second-class Las Vegas”.

Local authority bosses are set to order dozens of businesses across the district to remove “overbearing” signs, lights and paintwork that do not comply with its policies.

"It’s frankly like a second-class Las Vegas in Canterbury now...”

It comes amid fears many listed and historically significant buildings have been altered without official approval, which is a criminal offence.

The concerns were raised during a recent planning committee debate on whether to give Superdrug the green light to replace its current sign with a larger one campaigners fear will “completely spoil” the Grade II-listed site in St George’s Street.

During a meeting last month, Cllr Nick Eden-Green told colleagues the scourge is “getting worse by the day” in the city centre.

“People are just completely taking the mickey,” the Liberal Democrat said.

“We’ve got to do something about it urgently, because it’s frankly like a second-class Las Vegas in Canterbury now.”