Artist Tracey Emin says she snapped up a former gentlemen’s club in a bid to stop it being transformed into a nightclub.

The old Constitutional Club in Cecil Square, Margate, was bought by the 59-year-old - who has a studio just behind - after she learned it had a late-night alcohol licence.

Shortly afterwards, Ms Emin, who lives in the seaside town, discovered the listed building was equipped with its own gambling room, and that its roof was on the verge of collapsing.

She also purchased the Grade II-listed Georgian building next door - which was was also in a "horrific state".

"That one, called One Union Crescent, was for sale, so I went to see it and absolutely fell in love with it," she said.

"The Constitutional Club was then for sale. A friend of mine was going to buy it and have it as an art gallery, but she pulled out at the last moment.

"I realised it has a licence for a nightclub with dancing, noise and music - that would be really terrible for me with the gallery and studio just behind.

"So, I decided to buy it so we wouldn’t have a nightclub next door."

Ms Emin's studio and the Carl Freedman gallery sit just behind the properties in Union Crescent.

She says the former Constitutional Club will become a site dedicated to her, containing books about her that aspiring painters will be able to browse.

It will also provide visiting artists with accommodation, while the other building will be used as a home.

Ms Emin says the project will bring the buildings - which she bought in 2019 - back to their "Georgian splendour".

"I can't tell you how much of a mess the Constitutional Club was in," she continued.

"We had to take the whole roof off and put in a new one because it was about to collapse.

"In One Union, the whole roof had collapsed, and it had gone all the way through the house.

"It's been a massive project."

Ms Emin is Margate's most-famous resident since moving into an old converted stable block in the town.

She previously told KentOnline how she loves "the people, the weather and the waves" in the area.

And she says she decided to go ahead with her latest project as she wanted to improve Cecil Square's appearance.

"When I buy properties I'm not buying them to sell, I'm not buying them to make money, I'm not buying them to invest - I'm doing it because I really love architecture and beautiful buildings," she added.

"I realised it has a licence for a nightclub with dancing, noise and music - that would be really terrible for me..."

"For me, renovating the front was really important because I wanted to bring it back to that Georgian splendour.

"Now, the whole square is starting to look lovely, the bank have done their building up too.

"Slowly, it's starting to look smarter and sharper."

Ms Emin has completed work on the exteriors, and is now focused on transforming the inside of both sites, which are said to resemble a "building site".

As part of her desire to make Cecil Square a nicer place, she is considering taking matters into her own hands and refurbishing the Thanet District Council offices herself.

"I'm thinking about doing an intervention at the council offices and getting my guys in their hi-viz jackets to go and take all the paint and the rust off all the railings and then redo them over the weekend," she explained.

"Because that is the worst thing, all the rust and the paint and everything.

"It wouldn’t take much to make it look better and I know the council have got no money and need to spend what they have on other things.

"I want to just go and do it myself and pay for it."

The Margate Constitutional Club was founded in 1895, before closing in August 2010.

Website nethouseprices.com says the site was sold for £625,000 in 2019.

Meanwhile, One Union Crescent is thought to have changed hands in the same year for £400,000.