COUNCIL bosses are to lead four-way talks in a bid to keep a money-spinning snooker tournament in the region.

The UK Snooker Championships, due to start at York's Barbican next month, is into the final year of its three-year contract with the city.

Fans of the game and its top players have hailed the Barbican as an excellent snooker venue, for both its facilities and electric atmosphere.

Charlie Croft, the city's assistant director for leisure, said talks would begin when snooker's leading figures arrive in York to prepare for the tournament.

The council, World Snooker, the BBC and Absolute Leisure will all sit down at the negotiating table.

Absolute Leisure is the company that will run the Barbican's auditorium when the centre's planned revamp is complete.

A World Snooker spokesman said some talks had already taken place about the Barbican contract.

He said: "The Barbican Centre has proved an excellent venue for the UK Championship since 2001. Support for snooker in York is strong and many players have commented on the great atmosphere in the arena. The venue also has very good facilities for players and officials."

Next year's tournament would come during the middle of the revamp of the Barbican Centre and the council has previously indicated that the championships could be timed around construction works.