Eye-catching plans to convert an ailing convenience store that has been running for about 35 years into a micropub have been revealed.

The owner of Wall Street News and Video in Herne Bay, Claire Martinez, has submitted proposals to Canterbury City Council to transform the shop into a drinking hole.

She and her husband, Dario, took over the business in Western Avenue from her parents, who originally opened it as a film rental store in the 1980s, 14 years ago.

But Mrs Martinez says the pair have been struggling to make ends meet as their profits have been squeezed by nearby chains Tesco, Morrisons, and Aldi.

“We can’t compete with them,” she said. “When we took it over 14 years ago, it was really busy. But the Tesco and Aldi up the road can offer much better prices.

“We’ve been struggling for about three years and we didn’t know how much longer we could keep this business going because it’s not making us money.

“We eventually decided to try to turn it into a micropub because we thought we wouldn’t survive otherwise.”

Due to its financial struggles, the store has been forced to reduce its workforce and shorten its opening hours.

Mrs Martinez, who also works at Hampton Primary School, says the proposed pub will serve coffee, wine, and locally brewed ales.

In addition, it will continue to sell newspapers, milk, and a handful of groceries.

“We want to keep an essence of the shop,” she continued.

“We’ve got so many regular customers who come in the morning for their paper and so we really want to keep that part of the business.

"When we took it over 14 years ago, it was really busy... but the Tesco and Aldi up the road can offer much better prices" - Claire Martinez

“I’m hoping it’ll have a community feel and be a place where people can come along and chat to their neighbours.”

The couple are hoping to open the tavern, which they will call The Lantern, in December.

It will become the fifth micropub in Herne Bay - joining the likes of the Bouncing Barrel in Bank Street, The Firkin Fog in Station Road, and Copper Pottle in Beltinge.

The Butcher’s Arms in Canterbury Road, which was established in 2005, is credited as the first in the country.

The watering hole was run by landlord Martyn Hillier as a florist-cum-off-licence for eight years beforehand.

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