Community group sign lease to take over venue

Bedworth Civic Hall was used as a vaccination centre during the Covid pandemic and has been shut since October 2022

Contracts have been exchanged which pave the way for the reopening of a Warwickshire entertainment venue.

The 20-year lease signed for Bedworth Civic Hall brings a community group a step closer to taking the venue on.

Bedworth Civic Hall Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) said it now aimed to reopen the facility "over the next two years".

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council said the lease would take effect so long as the community group secured necessary funding within eight weeks.

The hall has been closed since October 2022, after the council said it could no longer afford running costs.

Used as a vaccination centre during the pandemic, it has previously welcomed performers such as Morecambe and Wise and Bill Haley and the Comets.

Charity chair of Bedworth Civic Hall CIO Sam Margrave said volunteers had worked "incredibly hard" to reach this point.

"We thank the community volunteers who made this happen through hard work and perseverance," he added.

"Over the next two years we will reopen and bring back all the old, with lots of new as part of our vision for building a better Bedworth and borough through the Civic Hall."

He added a new programme of events would have wide-ranging appeal for the community as a whole.

The council said it welcomed the milestone, following a lengthy search for an operator and protracted negotiations with the CIO.

Tom Shardlow, strategic director for economy and transformation, said: "I know how much the Civic Hall means to the residents of the borough and I am so pleased that a binding agreement has been reached."

He wished the new operators luck in securing the funding detailed in their business plan.