A worshiper from a church in Bearsted says plans to replace 20th century pews with stackable chairs will ruin the 'charm and ambiance' of the historic building.

The Holy Cross Church started discussing the proposal a year ago in a bid to make the building more accessible and flexible to the community.

The building in Church Lane first started using the movable chairs around 20 years ago when a section of the pews were removed to make more space.

Following the success, it is now hoping to remove all the existing pews in favour of the more modern approach.

But the decision has not been supported by all.

John Taylor, who has been worshiping there since he moved to the village three years ago says he feels the 'magic' of the holy building will be lost.

He said: "My objection is that there hasn’t been any discussion with worshippers.

"They want to do it for flexibility but I feel it takes away the magic.

"It was announced during the lockdown over email and I don't know if it has been made widely available.

"If it goes through I will complain.

"Young people said to me the chairs are nice because all cathedrals have chairs and that is true but I think a cathedral is a completely different thing, it's a huge cavernous place but a parish church is only little.

"I believe pews give charm and ambiance that you don't get from a cathedral."

The decision to remove the pews has been unanimously backed by elected officials at the church but before any changes can be made, it now needs to be approved by the diocese. This is expected to happen in the next few weeks.

While he understands the reservations, Rev John Corbyn says there has been a thorough consultation and he fully supports the changes.

He said: "Especially in the present climate, we need a building that's flexible for worship and non-worship activity so the building is used as much as possible so more people benefit.

"It will help mother and toddlers groups, and it will make a huge difference to concerts, exhibitions, and the Christmas fair.

"Sometimes we have small congregations that could do with more space, and sometimes we need to fit as many people in as possible so this will help with that.

"Even without a cushion the chairs are more comfortable than a pew because they have been especially designed.

"It's like going from Aldi to Waitrose but with seating. We're going from cheap, to nice and comfortable."

Rev Corbyn added: "They are only early 20th century pews, they're not historic and they're very basic.

"I remember discussions about this when I first came here some 20 years ago. As soon as we removed the pews in that section, we regretted not removing more.

"It was very successful and our mother and toddler group greatly benefited from it because it's the only one in the area.

"It's like going from Aldi to Waitrose but with seating. We're going from cheap, to nice and comfortable."

"The church room was far too small for them and we had to restrict numbers. Making more space meant we have been able to accommodate them for longer."

The church can currently hold around 150 people. Replacing the pews will replicate this but also mean it can be pushed up to 200 if certain situations allow.

This is not the first time a row has erupted over similar plans.

In August 2018, Gillingham Baptist Church underwent a £1 million makeover which saw the pews replaced with modern seating.

Earlier that year in Sittingbourne, Rev Michael Resch's plans to replace the original Victorian seating with metal-framed chairs at Holy Trinity Church was blocked by a judge.

The deputy commissary general of the Canterbury diocese, argued the removal of the original features, which were installed in 1919 to commemorate those who died in the First World War, would “result in harm to it as a building of special historical interest”.

Parishioners debated the possibility of removing the Victorian benches at St Mary's Church, Lenham which are on their last legs in 2018.

Since then it has been decided only two pews from the back of the church will be replaced, the rest will stay as they are.

Some 52% of those asked were in favour of the idea.

Despite their condition, it has not yet been decided if the remaining pews will be restored.

Rev John Huggins said: "At the moment, we just don't have the funds.

"Somebody has to come in and look at the history of the pews which will happen soon.

"The conclusion was they are not of great historical value but the wood they are made from might be so we have to wait to see what they say."

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone