A ROW has broken out over hire charges at the Regal after the leader of Tenbury Amateur Dramatic Society claimed community groups cannot af ford to use the building.

Keith Grif fith said charges set by the independent trust that runs the facility have ruled it out for groups like his.

“We go back a long way with the Re gal and would love to use it but it is just not affordable,”

said Mr Griffith.

He said that the group needed up to 12 days for setting up and rehearsals – but would be charged for the time when they were not performing and this made the costs prohibitive.

“It is not just the hire charge that is above what is viable for community groups but all of the extras like lighting, the sound system and a charge for heating,” said Mr Griffith.

“I blame the town council for agreeing to hand over the running of the trust and allowing it to make charges that mean it is no longer a community facility as had been intended.

“Our group and others have put a lot of money into the Regal and without this it would not be there but this seems to have been forgotten.”

He said that despite not being able to use the facility Tenbury Amateur Dramatic Society is still in business, looking for new members and will be performing in the town in November.

Ian Little, who manages the Regal on behalf of the trust, said there were reduced rates for non-profit making groups such as the society and many such organisations use the venue successfully.

“The Tenbury Amateur Dramatic Society wants exclusive use of the building for up to eight days before the first performance,”

he said.

“This used not to be a problem as the building wasn’t being used anyway.

They were only charged for the days of the performance.

“Now we would have to stop showing films and take no other hires during that period.”

Ian Little added that the trust has offered to work with the drama group to reduce the length of time it would need the building.

He said the charge related to a little more than £1 a seat for the planned schedule submitted by the group but believes that could be cut to 50p if the length of time was reduced.

However, he agreed that this figure was based upon a full house for all performances which was unlikely.