A THEATRE which was expected to make a loss of £53,000 has instead chalked up a financial shortfall of £212,000 at the end of its latest financial year.

But the future of Harrogate Theatre has been safeguarded thanks to continued backing from its key funders.

The theatre, which attracts about 60,000 people, currently receives annual funding from the Arts Council (£398,000) Harrogate Borough Council (£120,000) and North Yorkshire Council (£62,000) - accounting for about a third of its annual turnover.

A theatre spokesman pointed out its shortfall amounted to 14 per cent of its £1.49m annual income. The losses have been blamed on productions which failed to attract the public.

Chief executive David Bown said: "We were conscious of the need to seek new audiences in addition to our core audience of 60,000 people. However, the additional productions failed to attract new visitors, leaving us with a resulting shortfall."

In 2003, a production of Alan Ayckbourn's Norman Conquest attracted an audience of 11,000.

Officials had hoped to repeat this success with an ambitious staging of Ayckbourn's House and Garden last year. But it failed to reach its projected budget by £83,000, attracting 5,000 people.