THE site of one of the country’s biggest theatres has gone on the market after fears that a body was buried on the site were dispelled.

The Futurist Theatre on Scarborough’s South Bay is being sold by the borough council with a view to regenerating the site with a major developer.

The theatre closed in January this year when the operator’s lease expired. It was originally built as a cinema in 1921 and had an audience capacity of 2,155.

It had been claimed a concrete slab at the rear of the theatre marked the final resting place of Thomas Alfred Fox, a brother of Will Catlin, who was the former founder and owner of the Futurist.

However exploratory excavations around and underneath the slab, carried out in May by a specialist contractor, found no indication of human remains.

The council’s director of business support, Nick Edwards, said: “We have shared the contractor’s final report with the granddaughter of the Catlin family and hope that it brings her peace of mind and a conclusion to the uncertainty that has surrounded the area in recent months.

“We are now looking forward to seeing what proposals come forward from developers interested in regenerating the site .”