A historic former church in Marlow could be turned into a luxury hairdressers if new plans are given the green light.

The 19th Century, Grade II-listed Old Trinity Church, in Wethered Road, previously known as the Church of the Holy Trinity, was converted into offices in 1988.

Open Architecture has put the plans together for the conversion, saying the design would “look to retain the charm and details” of the existing church building from the outside while making changes inside to “serve the new purpose” and “create spaces that work with the building”.

The disused church, opposite the Holy Trinity Church of England School, is believed to have been opened in 1852 and became Grade II-listed in 1974.

The existing car park, with four spaces, will stay the same with one of the spaces being turned into a disabled space, and will be reserved for staff parking.

Customers will be urged to use the town’s car parks close to the site and have the cost of their parking reimbursed by the salon.

Open Architecture said the scheme would encourage customers to use town centre parking as part of a “multi-trip visit linking with other town centre services and functions”.

The salon would also encourage customers to travel by public transport, cycle or walk to the site, saying this would “ensure there will be no parking in the surrounding residential streets and avoid disruption to residents”.

A cycle store could also be constructed on the site as part of the plans.

Writing in the design and access statement, Open Architecture said the proposed works would have no “adverse” effect to the external appearance of the site or the fabric of the building, with all planned work to take place internally.

It wrote: “The internal alterations looks to remove a number of partitions formed during the change of use in the late 1980’s, whilst retaining the utility spaces to prevent causing further disruption to the existing property.

“It is acknowledged that the appeal of the church is in its detail and craftsmanship, therefore the existing features of the church are to be retained and protected.

“The change of use from offices (B1) to a hairdressers (A1) will make the church more accessible to the public ensuring this valuable asset is once more a part of the community.”

See the full planning application at publicaccess.wycombe.gov.uk/idoxpa-web/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=P6SVDESCJ8100.