Bath Abbey has sparked a backlash among churchgoers who are upset that it has replaced its 400-year-old Sunday service with a version said in "familiar" modern English.

The church was among a handful to retain the Matins service, which is based on the Tudor Book of Common Prayer.

After Easter it will be replaced by a modern choral Eucharist.

The Abbey said it decided to change the service to make it more accessible as more people are familiar with the modern service.

In a letter to the congregation sent in December, the Rector of the Abbey, The Reverend Prebendary Edward Mason, said: "Generations of Anglicans have now grown up with Eucharist not Matins.

"Few are now sustained in their faith by Matins these days. Casual attenders, visitors and those returning to faith are much more likely to be familiar with a Eucharist."

But some worshippers are upset by the changes, which they say are based on making the service more "fashionable" and will drive older members of the congregation away.

Ann Taylor, who is in her seventies and has been attending the service for 20 years, said she would not be attending the new Eucharist because it was in "supermarket" English. She said around 300 or 400 people currently attended.