Love Never Dies to close in August

Love Never Dies received mixed reviews when it opened in March 2010

Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies is to close on 27 August, it has been confirmed.

The announcement comes a little over a year since Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical first opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End.

The show opened to some poor reviews, and after substantial rewrites, was relaunched nine months later.

Although the new version gained a better critical reception, it failed to perform at the box office.

A fresh production of the show opened in Melbourne, Australia, at the end of May with far more positive press.

In an interview earlier this month, Lord Lloyd-Webber attributed the show's failure to being treated for cancer during production, which meant he was unable to give it his full attention.

"With hindsight we should have said, 'Let's put the whole thing on hold until I'm 100% again'. Frankly I wasn't feeling very well," he said.

However, he added that the current Australian production "cannot be improved upon".

"It is fabulous to look at and they completely understand what I'm trying to get at with the score. It has a momentum that is wonderful."

The Australian version of the show is expected to transfer to Broadway after its run is completed there.