HOPES are high that the Pope will visit a Kent city when he makes a UK tour next year.

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted an invitation from the Catholic Church in England and Wales to tour Britain in 2007, probably in September.

If he comes to Canterbury, it would be the first visit by the Pope to the city in a quarter of a century and only the second papal visit in almost 500 years.

A spokesman for the Vatican said that no details of the trip would be released until weeks before the visit.

A Cathedral spokesman said: "We would hope that if the Pope does decide to come to the city he will visit the Cathedral. That would be great news."

In May, 1982, the then head of the Catholic Church Pope John Paul II was greeted by crowds in Canterbury during his UK tour.

He met Archbishop Robert Runcie ahead of a service in the Cathedral. The church leaders knelt together in prayer at the The Place of the Martyrdom where Thomas Becket was murdered.

Archbishop Rowan Williams, who met the Pope at the Vatican in April, 2005, is expected to visit him formally for the first time later this year.

A spokesman for Lambeth Palace said it was too early to comment on the Pope’s visit.

The 78-year-old Pontiff, who succeeded John Paul II in September, last year, has made it clear he wishes to build bridges with the Anglican Church.