COUNCILLORS have approved plans to charge a £1 'restoration levy' to support efforts to improve a historic North-East theatre.

From July, people booking tickets for shows at Darlington Civic Theatre will be required to pay the levy, although there will be exceptions for certain performances.

At a meeting today (Tuesday, June 4), Darlington Borough Council's cabinet also agreed to pursue the purchase of shop units adjacent to the theatre in Parkgate.

This would help the restoration project by allowing the theatre's main entrance to be moved onto Parkgate, which in turn will allow the the layout of the stalls to be reconfigured.

It may also be possible to increase the theatre's overall seating capacity.

A £1.75 booking fee, charged on ticket purchases over £5, has been scrapped as a result of recent EU legislation.

Councillor Nick Wallis, cabinet member for leisure, said the council subsidises the theatre to the tune of £100,000 a year.

He added: "The Civic Theatre is a jewel in the crown of Darlington and like a number of our hard-pressed resources, it has been on a journey, figuratively speaking.

"Now is the time to see how we can secure its future for the next 15 to 20 years.

"Considerable work will need to be done to modernise the Civic and the restoration levy is an idea that came from across the pond and has already been adopted at other theatres over here."

There was cross-party support for the levy.

Conservative group leader Heather Scott added: "We have very good audiences at the Civic and people do appreciate that a £1 levy is not a large amount.

"I was a member of the Friends of the Civic Theatre for more than 20 years and although it is quite a small group now, this project could reinvigorate it."

Council leader Bill Dixon said: "People have not been complaining about the levy, they understand that if they do not pay for [the theatre] one way or another, it is not going to be there.

"The Civic is one of the things that makes Darlington different from other places in the North-East.

"We are investing in the future and while that future doesn't exactly look rosy, I do not think it is for this generation to simply give up."