A BUSINESSMAN whose theatre management company left a trail of creditors in its wake has a history of troubled ventures.

Michael Power, joint director of The Entertainment Team (Durham) Ltd, was entrusted with the running of Durham's Gala Theatre by the city council.

But his company went into liquidation with debts of more than £700,000 only four months after the £14m theatre opened in January.

This week it emerged that Mr Power, 41, had been the director of Entertainment Team Rides Ltd, running a rollercoaster at the Trocadero complex in London. That firm is now in the process of liquidation after running up a debt of more than £1m.

Mr Power was also a director of a company managing the £5m Shaping A Nation centre in Edinburgh which contains hi-tech rides and interactive exhibits.

Shaping A Nation Ltd - set up and partly owned by The Entertainment Team Management Ltd, of which Mr Power is also a director - was replaced by the centre's owners, Scottish and Newcastle, five months after it opened.

Fiona Hardie, of Lightspeed Fun Ltd, which took over its running in August 2000, said the firm still received letters from creditors attempting to contact Mr Power and his company.

Entertainment Team Management Ltd has now been dissolved following liquidation, while Shaping A Nation Ltd has voluntarily dissolved.

Liquidator Alan Marlor has said the Gala Theatre appeared to have opened without the financial reserves to fall back on. He said creditors would probably get nothing.

The company borrowed £75,000 from Durham City Council when its financial difficulties emerged. The authority is owed £209,000, according to a list of the company creditors which also includes Natwest, Newcastle Breweries and boy band A1.

A statement of affairs for creditors reveals that only £7,586 is available from the company's assets to pay the debts that accumulated.

Last week Durham City Council's chief executive Colin Shearsmith told a creditors' meeting that Entertainment Team, part of the London-based firm Full House Management, was chosen to run the theatre after it was the only viable respondent to a Europe-wide advert.

He said that Full House Management's credentials were thoroughly checked.

He added the council had no idea of the extent of the financial problems when it approved the £75,000 loan.

Since this week's news of Mr Power's previous troubled ventures Mr Shearsmith has been unavailable for comment.

Durham City MP Gerry Steinburg said he was outraged and renewed calls for a formal investigation.

He said: "There's a case for the auditors to be looking very carefully at this company. I only hope that after this debacle it becomes very much a successful theatre."