Supporters of amateur theatre in a County Durham dale are facing a series of setbacks which threaten to bring down the final curtain.

One music group has had to temporarily disband because the Methodist church hall where it staged its productions has been turned over to business use.

A drama club has had to vacate the hall it used for 27 years because of cutbacks in local authority spending. And another drama group has lost its home in the heart of Weardale because of a tightening in health and safely regulations.

"It is no over-statement to say that amateur theatre in this area is now facing its biggest cricis ever," said Bernard Lally, a leading member of the Crook-based Glenholme Theatre Club.

The club had to vacate the town's Elite Hall, where it has performed a host of plays and pantomimes since 1977, after it was closed b y Wear Valley District Clouncil as part of a cost-cutting exercise in leisure services.

The result is that so far this year the club has been unable to stage one production, although it is hoping to produce pantomimes at St Catherine's Community Centre this Christmas and one play at the Masonic hall.

"We still firmly believe there is a place for amateur theatre in this area. We have a lot of young people involved with the club, particularly the pantos," said Mr Lally.

"But it is important to realise the impact that the loss of the Elite Hall will have in ways we have not yet foreseen. Its facilities cannot be equalled anywhere else."

At nearby Wolsingham, the 11-year-old Music Makers group has lost the use of the Methodist Church Hall, where it staged its lavish productions.

It has been rented to a sportswear designer to help raise much-needed funds for the Methodist church. "We have had to temporarily disband the group," said chairman John Anderson. "We are hopful we can sort something out, but if we can't, that could be the end of the Music Makers."

He said the move was particularly heartbreaking for the dozen or so children who were members of the group.

"We feel most for them as they have become the pivot of many of our productions."

Meanwhile, the wealth of lavish costumes the group has either made or bought over the years will remain in mothballs in a storeroom above the town's chemists' shop.

The Phoenix Players, who have staged plays at the Church Hall in Stanhope, have had to look for a new home because of a breach in health and safety regulations.

These ruled that, after 16 years, the removal of a door to extend stage space was unsafe and could not continue.

But the group recently staged its latest comedy at the refurbished St John's Chapel Town Hall further up the dale.

"It proved a fantastic success," said chairperson and founder member Miriam Ashton. "We are hoping that we have managed top find a new home at St John's Chapel."

So, for the time being at least, the show goes on.