Theatre set to lose £400,000

A troubled theatre in north-east England will lose £400,000 over the next 12 months, council bosses have admitted.

The Gala Theatre in Durham City, opened in January 2002 as the largest provincial venue in the UK in a decade.

The venue, which also boasts a cinema, ran into difficulty within months when its original managers, the Entertainment Team, went into liquidation.

In its first year the site lost £700,000 and Durham City Council, which is now running the venue, says it has been budgeted to lose a further £400,000.

Council chiefs have defended the decision to call on taxpayers to foot the bill to subsidise the venue, claiming it has a prosperous future.

Colin Shearsmith, chief executive of Durham City Council, says financial targets are now being met.

He said: "The kind of upturn that we have had in the cinema has helped us.

"The fact that we have more focussed management in each of the various departments in the Gala and the response of local people to theatre, suggests that we are well on target."