A split in Leeds City Council has given an welcome boost to a newspaper campaign to save an amateur theatre from closure.

Tory and Lib Dem councillors have back the Yorkshire Post’s campaign by raising their oppositions to the Labour-run council’s plans to turn it into a museum.

Leeds Civic Theatre has been staging amateur productions for over 60 years, but the council want to turn it into a National Lottery-funded city centre museum.

Failure to win over the whole council, could hamper plans to win the £13m grant needed to fund to fund the £18m.

Councillor Andrew Carter, the council’s conservative leader, said: “Whatever the pros and cons of a new city museum, it seems to us yet again that council’s controlling group have handled the issue badly.

Mr Carter was backed up by the council Lib Dem leader, Councillor Mark Harris: “They can’t even prove that the Lottery Board will not support any another venue being used as a museum.

“We have opposed the loss of the Civic Theatre since it was first mooted. It is essential that there is a proper venue for amateur performing arts in the city centre. That’s a higher priority than a new museum.”

Council leader Brian Walker confirmed that the Heritage Lottery Fund people preferred the option of the Institute building for the museum, but added they would not be bulldozing anything and that a final decision was yet to be made.

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