When the group of retired businessmen welcomed their new member, they invited him to make a brief introductory speech.

Contained in the community news columns of KentOnline's sister paper the Gravesend Messenger was a short report on what appeared to be a relatively insignificant event.

It read: “Martin Fisher gave a brief background to his personal life and employment before retiring.”

Brief it may well have been, because there was a significant part of his “background” that he was not inclined to reveal.

The newest recruit to the Northfleet Probus Club was a convicted paedophile.

Not just that, he was a disgraced former Tory member of Canterbury City Council who had risen to the illustrious position of Sheriff.

"Some people like looking at Picasso… I like pictures of children with no clothes on..." - Martin Fisher

The Probus group, a collection of former business people who meet regularly at Shorne village hall, had taken a picture of the meeting and sent it into the Messenger.

But they had no idea of their new member’s sickening past, and were shocked when the paper informed them that Fisher had served two prison sentences for sex offences involving children.

Colin Fooks, 77, press officer at the club, labelled the revelation a “devastating blow”.

He said: “I couldn’t believe it and our secretary couldn’t either.

“We thought, ‘no, surely this can’t be right?’ We are a club of retired men and you get bad apples in any profession, but this has never happened before and it was like a bolt out of the blue.”

Fisher, 64, who has moved to Northfleet from his former home in Whitstable, was first sentenced in 2011 for sexually assaulting a child and downloading illegal images of children.

He was told that for 10 years his computer would be checked by police to ensure they could see what internet sites he had been accessing.

Yet three times in just seven months, in June 2013 and September and January last year, officers discovered he had secretly been viewing illicit images of naked children – including of a baby and another child involved in bondage.

"I couldn’t believe it and our secretary couldn’t either. We thought, 'no, surely this can’t be right?'" - Colin Fooks

He once remarked during his first trial: “Some people like looking at Picasso… I like pictures of children with no clothes on.”

He was given a 28-month sentence on May 18 last year after admitting breaching orders, but has since be released.

Mr Fooks said Fisher came across as a “quiet and retiring type”, and the group had absolutely no idea about his past until the Messenger revealed it to them.

He said: “He mentioned during his introductory speech that he was an insurance underwriter.

“He did mention that he was separated from his wife and had a domestic situation.”

The club has since spoken to Mr Fisher and asked him to resign, which he has done.

Attempts to contact Fisher were unsuccessful. Police said relocation of convicted paedophiles was a matter for the probation service.