A CONTRACT has been signed to release a £6m grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund as part of a restoration scheme for Harrogate's Royal Hall.

Work is expected to start in the autumn on the £8m scheme, which has also brought a £2m grant from the building's owner, Harrogate Borough Council.

The Grade 2 * listed theatre - which was closed after part of a ceiling collapsed - is expected to be reopened by April 2007.

A report by the council's head of property management, Martin Weeks, said that after consultation and re-examination of risks involved with the project, terms set out for the Lottery grant contract "are the best that can be achieved and are acceptable".

The go-ahead for the scheme has also been boosted recently by the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, which has pledged to give £1.8m towards restoration from fundraising. Originally, its target was less than £1m.

This will cover more work, mostly internal, in a bid to restore the hall's original decorations.

The trust has Prince Charles as its patron and actor Edward Fox as the president.

His family have long links with Harrogate and he launched a fundraising scheme in the town recently.