If you've ever fancied getting a tattoo but nerves got the better of you, a gran hopes the tranquil surroundings of her new riverside home might help.

After more than 20 years working in a town centre shop, tattooist Linda Jones has opened a studio on an American tug overlooking the Medway Estuary at Hoo St Werburgh Marina.

She feels the 1950s-built boat, which in another life was used in the US war in Vietnam and put in storage here during the Cold War, will have a calming influence on clients.

The 60-year-old mum-of four sons aims to gradually move her business from Sittingbourne to the 107ft-long boat she and her partner, truck driver Kerry Paine, bought last September.

She said: "It's very peaceful over here and hopefully more relaxed.

"I used to sit for hours on one piece of artwork, now I can't do more than three hours without starting to ache a bit.

"I enjoy my job, but I'm looking to slow down."

Linda started her working life on market stalls selling bedding and toilet rolls and fell into the tattooing business "by accident".

She said: "My ex was a body piercer and wanted to bring in tattoos.

He found somebody to teach him from the Tattoo Club of Great Britain, so we went along. It soon became clear that he couldn't draw so he volunteered me."

Talking of accidents, she has seen many from the thousands of customers who have come into her shop, The Cavern Tattoo and Piercing Studio in East Street, over the years.

She said: "There was a man who came in wanting a correction. He'd had 'Made in Sheepey" inked on him, instead of 'Made in Sheppey'."

"And there was a lady who asked me do a tattoo she had looked at in the mirror and afterwards realised it had come out backwards."

Linda said the once traditional British Bulldog symbol favoured by servicemen on both sides of the Atlantic during the world wars has diminished.

She added: "I'm glad that awful tribal stuff has gone out of fashion as it used to take so long.

"Today's customers look for more classy and intricate artwork.

"We didn't have the internet to fall back on when I started, now there's more access to design. I used to have to solder my needles by hand."

Although she still gets some saucy requests.

She added: "One man wanted somebody mowing a lawn in the area above his pubic hair.

"We get more women coming in now. Some 40 to 60 year-olds who may be going through a mid-life crisis.

"I never push somebody to have one done if they don't want. I've had a mum come in wanting to get her son one for his 18th birthday and he clearly was not keen."

Linda is a member of the Tattoo Club of Great Britain and the British Federation of Tattooists.

She can be contacted on 07860 171377.