A FORMER Ludlow town councillor has failed in a bid to get the annual grant to the Assembly Rooms cut.

But Ludlow Town Council rejected a plea to increase its annual grant to the arts and community centre to £20,000.

Instead it has allocated £15,000 for the Assembly Rooms in its budget for the coming financial year - an increase of £2,500.

Mickey Bradley pressed for funding to be diverted to the Citizens Advice Bureau which he claimed is under threat because of spending cuts and vital to people in the town during a time of austerity.

"The Assembly Rooms is a business that the ratepayer has subsidised for the past 15 years," he said.

But Paula Redway, director of the Assembly Rooms, said that the facility would have to charge an average of £44 for show tickets without a subsidy.

She said that 200,000 people passed through its doors every year and played an important part in the economic life of tthe town and its attraction as a tourist centre.

Ludlow Town Council is increasing its grant to the CAB from £2,000 to £3,000.