A RUN-down theatre which resounded with cheers of jubilation after it was awarded £628,400 in Lottery cash is lying disused, empty and quiet - more than a year after the windfall was announced.

And a theatre players' group today hit out at councillors over the "unnecessary" delays which have left them without a base for rehearsals at Darwen Library Theatre.

Council chiefs must act if the project to refurbish the theatre is ever to be completed, according to the Arts Council Of England, which hands out lottery cash.

Staff at the theatre popped champagne corks and celebrated on the front page of Lancashire Evening Telegraph when the lottery funding was announced in May 1997.

It was hoped the money would be used to take the building into the millennium with a new frontage, a licensed bar, extra seating, a gallery and improved disabled access.

But the theatre was closed last November, leaving arts groups looking for new places to rehearse and hold events. It is believed preliminary works on the building have made it unusable.

A spokeswoman for the Arts Council Of England, which hands out Lottery cash, said: "The offer of funding has very specific conditions attached to it. Blackburn with Darwen Council must now decide how it is going to meet those conditions or indeed, whether it wants to proceed with the plans. We are waiting to hear from the council." A Blackburn with Darwen Council spokesman said: "The project will go ahead and we will contact the Arts Council in due course. We do not want to pin the blame on Lancashire County Council, but the scheme which we inherited from the county was over budget and we have had to modify it."

Darwen Library Players press officer Jenny Billingsley said: "The people of Darwen are being deprived. The theatre has been idle now for 10 months and all for nothing.

"There are so many community groups who have lost out because they could not hold fairs, pantomimes, musicals and other events.

"We are very disappointed that we have now been without a base since November. Our clear understanding was that the theatre was closed so the work could begin immediately.

"For the last five years our group has been told to plan around proposed works which were never carried out. It is inconvenient and frustrating and it is all because of the council's indecision."

The initial bid for Lottery funding was made by Lancashire County Council, but Blackburn with Darwen Council assumed responsibility when they became a unitary authority on April 1.

A county council spokesman said: "Work on the project was delayed while the scheme was reassessed in the light of requirements from the Arts Council of England. As no contracts had been signed before April this year the scheme was taken over by Blackburn with Darwen."

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