A Minster church has celebrated its 50-year anniversary.

The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in Harps Avenue, Minster, held a Mass of thanksgiving and a blessing on Saturday.

More than 150 parishioners attended and the event was also celebrated by Bishop John Hine and parish priest Canon Frank Moran.

Past priests of the parish and other Island clergy also joined in.

To celebrate the anniversary, the church was decorated with 50th anniversary balloons and flowers.

There were also photographs for the parishioners to enjoy and banners made by children from St Edwards RC School in New Road, Sheerness.

A plaque to commemorate the occasion was blessed and has been mounted in the entrance to the church.

After the celebrations, there was a barbecue in the grounds and live music was provided by Steve Harding.

Fr Moran said: “I had said the week before 'don’t worry about the weather, we have arranged with management above for it to be good’ and it really was brilliant.

“It was a great day and we are really grateful to everybody who took part in this wonderful celebration of 50 years in Minster.”